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Digitized  by  tlie  Internet  Arcliive 

in  2007  witli  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/bookbindingforbiOObattiala 


BOOKBINDING 
FOR  BIBLIOPHILES 


OF  THIS  BOOK  s;o  COPIES  ON  JAPANESE  VELLUM  AND 
300  ON  ENFIELD  PLATE  PAPER  HAVE  BEEN  PRINTED 
AND  THE  TYPE  DISTRIBUTED.      NO.   /  ..  ^ 


BOOKBINDING 

FOR  BIBLIOPHILES 

Being  Notes  on  Some  Technical 

Features  of  the  Well  Bound 

Book  for  the  Aid  of 

Connoisseurs 

together  with 

a  sketch  of  gold  tooling 

ancient  and  modern 

BY 

FLETCHER  BATTERSHALL 


GREENWICH,  CONN. 

THE  LITERARY  COLLECTOR  PRESS 

MCMV 


Copyright,  1905, 
By  The  Literary  Collector  Press 


Art 
library 

1332.  1q 


TO 

DOUGLAS  COCKERELL 


772562 


INTRODUCTION 

THIS  is  not  a  technical  treatise  on 
bookbinding,  neither  is  it  a  his- 
tory of  the  craft.  These  fields 
have  been  covered  ably  by  others.  The 
appeal  is  to  the  collector  and  book- 
lover —  to  those  who  love  the  book 
in  its  physical  being,  as  an  objet  d'arty 
apart  from  the  literary  value  of  the 
thought  expressed.  The  cult  is  ancient, 
and  numbers  now  as  of  old  its  enthu- 
siasts and  its  satirists.  It  has  its  own 
apologetics.  The  author  is  content  to 
step  aside  from  the  controversy.  Let 
us  not  take  our  bric-a-brac  too  serious- 
ly, but  stand  ready  to  enjoy  the  humor 
of  our  folly,  as  well  as  its  charm  and  its 
delight. 

The  finely  bound  book  is  an  article 
of  virtu.    But  as  such  it  has  its  laws,  its 


Introduction 

own  little  philosophy  and  rule  of  being. 
One  cannot  know  it  to  be  good  or  bad 
without  knowing  the  history  of  its 
structure.  Was  it  built  on  sound  prin- 
ciples ?  Does  it  fulfill  the  full  purpose 
of  a  binding?  Is  its  beauty  a  proper 
and  natural  beauty,  the  inevitable  efflor- 
escence which  the  structure  was  des- 
tined to  call  forth?  There  is  one 
beauty  of  the  sea,  and  another  of  the 
hill.  The  beauty  of  the  bound  book 
differs  from  the  beauty  of  a  shoe  lach- 
et,  because  it  follows  a  different 
growth  to  serve  a  different  purpose. 
The  connoisseur  is  he  who,  holding 
the  work  in  hand,  can  point  out  in 
how  far  each  follows  its  organic  law.  It 
is  to  aid  the  Bibliophile  to  such  knowl- 
edge that  the  present  work  is  written. 


CONTENTS 

PART  FIRST:  FORWARDING 

I 

Of  Mending  and  Repairing 

3 

II 

Of  Pressing  ;  With  a  Note  on  Collation 

15 

III 

Of  End  Papers 

21 

IV 

Of  Leather  Joints,  and  of  Sewing 

31 

V 

Of  Rounding,  of  Backing,  and  of  Boarding 

41 

VI 

Of  Edges  and  Edge  Gilding 

53 

VII 

Of  Headbands 

65 

VIII 

Of  the  Choice  of  Leathers 

73 

IX 

Of  Covering      ...... 

PART  SECOND :  FINISHING 

83 

I 

Gold  Tooling:  the  Technique 

93 

II 

Gold  Tooling  in  Italy          .... 

103 

III 

Gold  Tooling  in  France      .... 

"3 

IV 

Gold  Tooling  of  To-day     .... 

125 

PART  FIRST 

FORWARDING 


I 

OF  MENDING  AND  REPAIRING 


OF  MENDING  AND  REPAIRING 

THE  Bibliophile  should  have  a  part 
in  the  binding  of  his  books. 
They  should  reflect  his  person- 
ality equally  with  that  of  the  crafts- 
man. There  are  few  possessions  more 
personal  and  intimate,  reflecting  the 
owner,  not  in  their  selection  only,  but 
in  their  physical  being.  How  carefully 
the  book-lover  considers  the  edition  of 
the  work  which  he  sets  out  to  acquire ! 
Shall  it  be  ancient,  full  of  the  atmos- 
phere of  the  century  which  gave  it 
birth,  quaint  in  typography,  and  im- 
printed on  the  honest  hand-made 
papers  of  an  unsophisticated  age?  —  or 
shall  it  be  a  modern  edition  de  luxe,  one 
of  three  hundred  numbered  copies,  a 
manufactured  rarity  ?  The  decision  re- 
flects   the   character    of   the   collector. 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

And    so  it  is  with  the  selection  of   a 
binding. 

It  is  here  proposed  to  speak  of  the 
technical  features  of  fine  book  binding. 
The  knowledge  of  the  amateur  is  too 
often  confined  to  schools  of  tooling.  Of 
equal  importance  is  some  knowledge  of 
the  various  technical  characteristics  of 
a  well  bound  book.  For,  in  technique 
there  is  nearly  as  wide  a  choice  as  in 
decoration,  and  for  the  best  treatment 
of  the  particular  book  there  should  be 
not  only  a  selection  of  materials  but  a 
choice  in  the  mode  of  handling  them. 
Indeed,  no  sound  artistic  judgment  of 
decoration  can  be  made  without  some 
knowledge  of  the  technical  problems 
with  which  the  craftsman  copes.  Did 
he  conquer  them  ?  Is  the  workman- 
ship sound,  and  worthy  of  embellish- 
ment? These  are  the  first  questions; 
and  only  after  answering  them  may  one 
judge  whether  the  decoration  follows, 
a  natural  and  harmonious  overtone.  Of 
this  sort  is  the  education  of  the  con- 
noisseur. An  expert  knowledge  of  fine 
prints  must  be  founded  upon  an  under- 
standing   of    the    technical    difficulties 

4 


Of  Mending  and  Repairing 

with  which  the  artist  struggled.  It  is 
much  the  same  with  bookbinding. 

I  will  speak  only  of  the  finest  book- 
binding—  of  the  workmanship  which 
is  lavished  on  a  work  of  peculiar  rarity, 
or,  it  may  be,  not  rare,  but  particularly 
beloved ;  of  the  books  which  one  hon- 
ors above  their  fellows  —  the  nobility 
of  the  cabinet.  Thus,  if  some  of  the 
requirements  appear  to  be  exacting,  it 
will  be  remembered  that  they  are  not 
an  every-day  affair,  and  that  one  may 
place  on  his  shelves  many  books  in  neat 
half  morocco  with  less  forethought  and 
far  less  strain  upon  the  purse.  What 
is  said  is  not  in  disparagerrient  of  these. 

It  is  generally  the  old  book,  the  book 
which  is  very  rare  and  precious,  one  of 
a  known  number  which  has  dodged  the 
catastrophes  of  a  century  or  so,  that 
comes  up  for  binding.  As  a  rule,  if  a 
contemporary  covering  is  still  decently 
sound  upon  its  back,  it  is  best  to  let  it 
stay  there.  One  cannot  better  it.  This 
binding,  frayed  though  it  may  be,  is 
more  intimate  with  the  nature  of  the 
book  than  any  you  can  substitute.  Of 
course,  if  it  is  a   fine   binding   of  the 

5 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

period,  or  stamped  with  the  arms  or 
chiffre  of  some  bibliophile,  noble, 
learned,  or  beautiful,  the  question  is 
settled  once  for  all.  No  matter  how 
dingy  and  ragged,  let  it  stay ;  at  the 
most,  let  the  worst  wounds  be  healed 
by  the  habile  hands  of  the  repairer.  A 
wide  gulf  is  fixed  betwixt  repairer  and 
restorer.  The  repairer  replaces  and 
strengthens  the  crumbling  shreds  of 
board  and  leather,  builds  up  the  ruin  of 
the  head-band,  —  goes  little  farther,  in 
fact,  than  to  prevent  a  further  dissolu- 
tion. The  restorer  may,  with  specially 
cut  tools,  regild  the  dulled  design. 
Hold  him  in  suspicion.  Your  book  is 
better  as  it  is,  "black  with  tarnished 
gold." 

But  if  the  old  covering  is  without 
importance;  if,  though  old,  it  is  some 
centuries  later  than  the  imprint,  and  is 
out  of  touch  with  the  true  spirit  of  the 
book,  (which  is  not  infrequently  the 
case,)  here  is  a  book  for  re-binding. 
Moreover,  the  old  binding  may  be  even 
a  menace,  sown  with  mould  and  infect- 
ing day  by  day  the  precious  leaves 
within.     Then  let  it  be  stripped  away 

6 


Of  Mending  and  Repairing 

(by  the  binder,  of  course,)  and  we  are 
ready  to  plan  a  new  one. 

But  here  it  may  be  evident  that 
there  is  preliminary  work.  It  is  a  long 
journey  from  the  XVth  or  XVI th  cen- 
tury to  the  present  day,  a  journey  per- 
ilous, especially  to  books.  Yes,  though 
by  some  rare  chance  it  had  owned 
a  lover  such  as  Francois  Villon,  he 
thumbed  it  doubtless  in  some  thieves' 
kitchen  with  fingers  oily  of  the  fat 
goose;  or,  were  the  larder  less  propi- 
tious, dodged  it  one  day  —  and  the 
imprecations  of  his  Gros  Margot,  Then 
there  were  the  long  days  on  the  quais 
when  fine  rain  soaked  between  the 
pages,  or  the  dust  of  the  hot  summer 
noon  sifted  to  its  marrow.  How  many 
times  did  it  escape  the  bagman  by  a 
hair's  breadth  ! 

Adventures  such  as  these  are  written 
on  its  pages  ;  and  now,  before  binding, 
it  is  necessary  that  the  book  be  washed 
and  mended.  Here  is  an  art  in  itself 
—  a  charming  yet  patient  art,  one  of 
minute  labors,  and  of  expense.  But  it 
is  necessary  to  the  rare  book  if  damp 
and  decay  was  really  seated  in  its  fibre. 

7 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

The  very  substance  which  supports  the 
precious  text  is  crumbling  from  beneath. 
And  as  to  washing :  A  book  may  be 
so  washed  as  to  leave  the  paper  daz- 
zling white,  whiter  and  fairer  often 
than  when  first  imprinted.  There  are 
two  objections  which  the  Bibliophile 
may  raise.  First,  that  the  natural  mel- 
low tint  is  lost,  and  for  this,  among 
other  charms,  we  prized  it.  Second,  un- 
less the  work  be  done  with  scrupulous 
honesty,  our  book  remains  a  whited 
sepulchre,  fair  to  behold,  but  full  of 
acid  fermentations.  Most  bleaching 
solutions  contain  chlorine,  either  in  the 
form  of  chloride  of  lime  or  as  hydro- 
chloric acid,  both  of  which  agents, 
together  with  oxalic  and  nitric  acids, 
are  used  in  various  ways  in  washing 
books.  Most  stains  which  are  only 
of  the  surface  fade  in  a  heated  solution 
of  powdered  alum ;  grease  yields  to 
heat  and  blotting  paper,  applied  with 
patient  repetition  ;  but  damp,  fox-marks 
and  ink-stains  call  for  more  heroic 
treatment.  Unless  the  workman  has 
a  conscience,  unless  he  neutralizes  every 
trace  of  chlorine  with  the  proper  acids, 

8 


Of  Mending  and  Repairing 

unless,  again,  by  scrupulous  and  repeated 
washing  he  removes  every  trace  of  this 
neutralizing  acid,  there  remains  a  de- 
structive element  in  the  fibre  of  the 
leaf. 

And  again :  Every  book  that  is 
washed,  whether  bleached  or  not, 
should  be  re-sized.  In  the  paper-mill, 
as  each  fibre  of  linen  settles  to  its  place, 
it  is  intimately  coated  with  a  size  of 
gelatines  and  soap,  which  binds  the 
leaf  together.  In  washing  and  bleach- 
ing much  of  this  is  washed  away  ;  the 
paper  is  left  fragile,  subject  to  easy 
tears,  and  unprotected  from  inroads  by 
damp  and  mildew.  This  lost  sizing 
should  always  be  replaced.  In  fact, 
very  poor  paper,  such  as  was  used  in 
many  ephemeral  tracts,  now  of  great 
rarity,  may  be  given  greater  strength 
by  re-sizing  than  it  originally  possessed. 
Often  the  sole  vice  of  the  spotted  page 
is  that  its  original  size  has  perished  by 
natural  decay.  The  surface  is  soft  and 
fuzzy.  It  delights  in  tearing.  A  bath 
in  hot  size  is  all  that  is  needed  —  but 
the  need  is  imperative. 

I  know   many   lovers  of  old  books 

2  9 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

who  have  an  ineradicable  prejudice 
against  any  "  washing,"  and  prefer  the 
page  as  it  is,  spotted  with  decay.  They 
overlook  the  fact  that  there  is  a  great 
difference  between  chemical  bleaching, 
and  a  mere  bath  in  pure  water  followed 
by  re-sizing.  The  former  is  as  evil  as 
they  think  ;  the  latter  is  no  evil,  but  a 
proper  and  necessary  care.  If  rightly 
done,  the  decay  (a  progressive  process) 
is  cut  short,  and  the  page  is  restored  to 
a  life  and  health  which  it  may  enjoy 
for  years  to  come. 

The  Bibliophile  is  happy  if  his  book 
has  all  its  corners,  is  free  from  the  bur- 
row of  the  bookworm,  and  exists  leaf 
by  leaf  in  its  integrity.  If  not,  a  still 
more  minute  labor  remains  for  the  re- 
pairer. There  is  a  great  difference 
between  a  tear  mended  or  corner  re- 
placed by  a  skillful  craftsman  and  the 
mere  patching  and  pasting  which  any- 
one can  do.  Before  the  work  of  the 
master,  one  wonders  how  the  thing  was 
done.  Seen  by  reflected  light,  the  lost 
corner  has  grown  again,  self-renewed, 
it  seems,  by  some  strange  power  such 
as  possess  those  happy   lower    animals 

10 


Of  Mending  and  Kep airing 

which,  growing  a  new  leg,  come  forth 
remade  for  the  struggle  for  existence. 
Only  by  transmitting  light  is  the  cica- 
trice apparent.  There  is  a  curious 
welding  of  the  torn  edges,  and  the  new 
piece  is  marvelously  grafted  in  the  very 
substance  of  the  old.  The  den  of  the 
bookworm  is  filled  up,  and  his  passage  is 
unmarked  save  only  where  the  text  has 
nourished  his  vile  body,  and  the  text 
itself  can  be  fac-similed  by  a  skillful 
draughtsman.  These  wonders  of  sur- 
gery are  worked  with  papier  pourri  or 
semi-liquid  paper,  from  which  the  men- 
der makes  new  paper  as  genuine  as  that 
of  the  original  vat. 

This  is  the  sort  of  mending  which  a 
precious  book  demands.  If  there  is 
much  of  it  to  be  done  ;  if,  page  by 
page,  some  minute  attention  is  required, 
the  artist  is  well  deserving  of  the  Bib- 
liophile for  his  infinite  pains  —  this 
minor  kind  of  genius. 

Here,  as  in  many  arts  of  patience, 
the  French  excel,  and  even  amateurs 
follow  the  calling  with  delight.  To 
the  Bibliophile  I  recommend  the  book 
of  M.  Bonnardot,  who,  in  the  early 
11 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

century,  pursued  fine  prints  and  bou- 
quins  on  the  quais  of  Paris.  With 
charm,  and  at  times  fine  passion,  he 
treats  of  the  little  art  of  repairing  prints 
and  books. 

This  is :  Essai  sur  Vart  de  restaurer 
les  Estampes  et  les  Livres  . . .  Par  A.  Bon- 
nardot.  Second  edition,  refondue  et  aug- 
mentee... Paris... Castel  ...  1858.  "  Vol- 
ume de  toute  rarete,"  adds  the  cataloguer. 


13 


II 

OF  PRESSING :     WITH  A  NOTE  ON 
COLLATION 


II 

OF  PRESSING :     WITH  A  NOTE  ON 
COLLATION 

THE  ancient  bookbinder,  before 
sewing,  beat  his  books  with  a 
heavy  hammer;  and  in  Jost 
Ammon's  well-known  book  of  trades 
we  see  him  at  this  preliminary,  but 
necessary  task.  To-day,  however,  pow- 
erful hydraulic  and  steam  presses  have 
superseded  the  old  beating  stone,  and, 
in  fact,  do  better  work.  On  beating 
or  pressing  depends  the  final  solidity  of 
the  book.  Paper  as  it  comes  from  the 
printing  press  is  somewhat  spongy, 
filled  with  minute  particles  of  air,  and 
the  folded  leaves  do  not  lie  intimately, 
each  against  the  other.  Pressing  expels 
the  air,  and  when  properly  done  results 

16 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

in  an  admirable  solidity  and  a  book 
locked  against  damp  and  dust. 

There  are  two  precautions  to  be  kept 
in  mind ;  first,  as  to  old  books,  and  then 
as  to  books  which  are  too  new. 

The  old  hand  presses  of  early  days, 
exquisite  as  was  the  work  which  they 
turned  out,  had,  nevertheless,  faults  of 
which  the  modern  binder  must  take 
count.  The  impression  was  often  too 
heavy;  the  paper  was  embossed,  so  to 
speak,  and,  not  infrequently,  weakened 
by  the  depth  of  the  impression.  Some- 
times, in  fact,  under  an  undiscriminat- 
ing  pressure  by  the  binder,  the  letters 
come  away,  neatly  cut  out,  or,  again, 
the  leaf  parts  along  the  margin  of  the 
text.  A  cautious  binder  having  a  rare 
book  in  hand  will  avoid  this  accident 
by  carefully  considered  pressure. 

With  books  fresh  from  printing  there 
is  another  danger.  The  ink  may  not 
have  hardened,  and  in  pressing  the  text 
may  "set  off"  and  appear  reversed  upon 
the  neighboring  page.  The  Biblio- 
phile himself  should  forestall  this  catas- 
trophe by  putting  off  the  day  of 
binding  —  always  a  wise  plan,  if,  in  the 

16 


Of  Pressings  with  a  Note  on  Collation 

meanwhile,  the  book  receives  the 
proper  care.  This  danger  of  "set-ofF" 
is  always  present  in  books  with  plates. 
As  a  rule  fine  plates  should  never  share 
the  pressing  of  the  text.  Etchings, 
engravings,  and  all  illustrations  by  pro- 
cesses where  the  ink  is  in  relief,  lose  in 
brilliancy,  or  "smudge"  under  too 
heavy  pressure. 

If  the  Bibliophile  is  an  "  extra  illus- 
trator" he  will  have  indicated  the  place 
where  each  borrowed  plume  shall  be 
stuck  in.  And  this  brings  one  to  a 
matter  which  in  every  instance  is  pre- 
liminary to  delivery  to  the  binder ;  that 
is  to  say,  collation. 

Every  bibliophile  collates  his  book 
on  getting  it.  Without  this  he  is 
no  Bibliophile,  a  normal  and  unfev- 
ered  mortal  merely  —  deserving  the 
wretched  books  that  he  will  buy,  sans 
fly  leaves,  advertisements,  misprints, 
everything.  It  is  collation  marks  the 
Bibliophile,  and  if  he  arises  surrepti- 
tiously at  night  to  re-collate,  then  is  he 
greater  than  the  mere  Bibliophile,  he 
is  bibliomane  —  true  man  of  passion  and 
delight. 

3  17 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

But  there  is  method  in  this  madness ; 
for  after  collation  one  should  indicate 
in  his  letter  to  the  binder  the  mis- 
placed signature,  and  the  fact  that  A, 
which  is  blank,  is  on  no  account  to  be 
used  to  line  the  back;  and  one  may 
add,  too,  that  he  loves  the  advertise- 
ments, and  that  the  original  wrappers 
are  to  be  bound  in  as  they  stand,  or  at 
the  back,  as  one's  taste  runs.  If  the 
book  is  in  cloth,  one  will  not  (while  the 
present  standard  lasts)  have  it  bound  at 
all,  but  will  save  it  unappareled  to  be 
cast  out  by  executors  or  next  of  kin  ; 
serving  still,  it  is  true,  the  general 
cause  of  bibliomania  by  enhancing  the 
value  of  our  neighbor's  copy,  which 
then  will  be  the  only  one  extant.  Yet 
if,  in  spite  of  fashion,  one  has  it  bound, 
he  should  warn  the  binder  that  the  ori- 
ginal covers  are  to  be  bound  in. 

These  are,  or  should  be,  the  rich 
fruits  of  collation.  The  cautious 
binder,  on  his  part,  will  collate  the 
book  himself.  He,  at  least,  cannot 
afford  to  be  charged  with  missing  pages 
which  never  came  into  his  hands. 


18 


Ill 

OF  END  PAPERS 


Ill 

OF  END  PAPERS 

END  papers  have  as  much  to  do 
with  the  general  appearance  of  a 
book  as  any  other  feature,  except 
the  covering,  decoration,  and  treatment 
of  the  edges.  By  end  papers  the  binder 
understands  that  collection  of  leaves, 
some  white,  some  colored,  which  are 
placed  at  the  beginning  and  end  of  the 
book,  and  are  not  part  of  the  printed 
work  itself.  It  is  a  matter  in  which 
the  Bibliophile  himself  may  take  a  part. 
In  one  view  it  is  purely  a  matter  of 
taste ;  from  another  there  are  technical 
considerations. 

As  to  the  white  leaves  which  flank 
the  body  of  the  book  ;  have  enough  of 
them.  Three  are  none  too  many.  They 
are  the  only  proper  place  for  biblio- 
graphical remarks,  or  stamps,  or  signa- 
tures.      Then    again,    a    book    which 

21 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

opens  immediately  upon  the  title 
always  has  a  mean  appearance.  There 
is  no  paper  too  good  for  these  white 
leaves,  but  there  is  a  matter  always  to 
be  borne  in  mind.  They  must  be  of 
the  same  character  as  the  paper  of  the 
book.  It  is  distressing  to  see  highly 
calandered  modern  paper  cheek  to 
cheek  with  the  fine,  mellow,  water- 
lined  paper  of  other  centuries.  They 
quarrel  hopelessly ;  yet  here  is  an  error 
of  which  inconsiderate  binders  are  often 
guilty.  The  same  is  true  of  the  juxta- 
position of  a  pure  white  paper  with 
one  which  age  has  mellowed.  The 
worthy  binder  of  rare  books  has  by  him 
a  large  assortment  of  ancient  paper,  so 
that  he  may  match  as  nearly  as  possible 
the  pages  of  the  book. 

The  colored  end  paper,  however,  is 
wholly  a  decorative  element.  It  greets 
one  on  opening  the  cover,  with  which, 
therefore,  it  should  always  have  rela- 
tion. I  say  end  paper;  by  this  I  mean 
also  ends  of  silk  or  satin,  of  parchment, 
as  also  papers  printed  or  marbled ;  all 
materials,  in  fact,  which  are  fitted  for 
the    purpose.       Marbled    paper    is   the 

22 


Of  End  Papers 

convention.  For  nine  out  of  ten  books, 
it  serves  as  portal  and  as  exit.  In  the 
earlier  days  of  the  craft  it  had  artistic 
excellence,  and  moreover,  a  practical 
raison  d'etre.  It  was  made  by  the  binder 
in  his  own  shop  at  a  time  when  other 
decorated  papers  were  few  and  hard  to 
find.  It  is  supposed  to  be  Dutch  in 
origin,  dating  from  the  XVIIth  cen- 
tury ;  but  Mr.  Home  points  out  that 
the  Sylva  Syharum  of  Francis  Bacon, 
London,  1627,  relates  that  "The 
Turks  have  a  pretty  art  of  chamolet- 
ting  of  paper  which  is  not  with  us  in 
use."  Previous  to  this,  papers  were  in 
use  stamped  with  grotesque  diapers  in 
color. 

It  would  seem  that  to-day  the  reason 
for  this  excessive  use  of  marbled  paper 
has  passed  away.  The  vitality  and 
naive  charm  of  the  early  marbled 
papers  has  evaporated  in  the  modern 
improvement  of  the  art.  Our  marbles 
are  much  more  elaborate,  combining  a 
palette-full  of  colors,  veined  with  gold 
often,  truly  "superior"  in  finish.  It  is 
a  matter  of  taste ;  but  it  appears  to  be 
a  rule,  that  among  marbled  papers  those 

23 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

sober  and  of  small  design  are  most 
pleasing  in  effect.  A  large  design  is 
always  a  solecism  in  a  petit  book  :  and 
it  seems  to  me  that  the  charming  little 
"  combs "  are  more  attractive,  more 
luxurious  indeed,  than  the  gaudy  effects 
of  the  trade.  M.  Octave  Uzanne  in 
his  Reliure  Moderne,  Paris,  1887,  is 
vehement  in  urging  the  use  of  new 
materials.  He  commends  the  use  of 
Japanese  decorated  papers,  landscapes, 
birds,  or  iiower  subjects ;  of  any  novel- 
ty, indeed,  so  long  as  it  is  new.  "  'Je 
preche  done  le  mepris  du  convenu."  The 
revolt  has  its  provocation  ;  yet,  to  every 
art,  there  remains  a  true  convention,  to 
be  over-stepped  at  the  peril  of  absurd- 
ity. Fitness  is  the  test  —  the.  fitness  of 
the  material  to  the  use.  Within  this 
convention  there  is  all  latitude. 

Early  bindings,  such  as  those  of  Gro- 
lier,  had  usually  ends  of  vellum  or  pure 
white  paper.  In  some  hands  nothing 
is  more  beautiful  —  witness  some  of 
the  recent  books  of  the  Dove's  Bind- 
ery. Mr.  Cockerell  uses  frequently  a 
self-colored  paper  of  soft  military  grey. 
The  effect  is  charming  when  set  against 

24 


Of  End  Papers 

his  Niger  leather.  The  field  is  wider 
than  is  at  first  apparent.  There  are 
many  beautiful  and  fine  papers  which 
await  the  discerning  Bibliophile.  Still 
more,  here  is  an  untrodden  field  for  the 
decorative  artist.  Patterns  for  wall  pa- 
pers, carpets,  oilcloths,  and  fabrics  are 
poured  out  ad  infinitum  ;  yet  it  has  oc- 
curred to  few  designers  that  in  end 
papers  there  is  a  field  for  fine  endeavor. 
Mr.  Rossetti  and  others  have,  now  and 
then,  designed  end  papers  for  particu- 
lar books  ;  but  so  far  as  I  know  little 
designing  for  the  trade  has  been  at- 
tempted. The  future,  it  may  be,  will 
lie  in  stamped  papers,  with  diaper  or 
running  designs,  wherein  the  merit 
shall  be  as  much  in  form  as  color. 

To  speak  of  "  ends "  of  watered 
silk  or  satin  :  These  have  a  precedent 
of  a  century  or  so.  But  more  particu- 
larly are  they  associated  in  our  minds 
with  the  charming  books  of  the 
XVIIIth  century  illustrated  by  Cochin, 
Gravelot  or  Eisen.  One  of  these  books, 
bound  by  Derome,  with  a  fly  and  doub- 
lure of  silk  or  satin,  is  an  artistic 
whole,    contemporary   in   all   respects ; 

4  25 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

text,  illustration,  binding  reflect  equally 
an  eighteenth  century  sentiment,  light, 
charming  and  rococo.  And  though 
there  are  examples  of  such  doublures 
of  very  early  date,  it  will  seem  to  most 
minds  an  artistic  impossibility  to  place 
one  in  an  Aldine  classic,  or  in  a  Caxton. 

There  are  practical  considerations, 
too.  A  book  with  silk  flies  ever  re- 
quires the  most  tender  care,  immaculate 
fingers,  a  glazed  cabinet,  and  to  do  well 
by  it,  a  slip  case  to  exclude  all  dust. 
There  are  few  things  more  forlorn  than 
a  frayed  and  dingy  satin  fly.  Still,  they 
are  always  permissible,  if  one  desires 
the  particular  efl^ect.  All  things,  inani- 
mate as  well  as  living,  have  their  sex. 
The  book  is  masculine ;  "  le  livre,'' 
says  the  Frenchman,  and  I  doubt  not 
that  the  same  feeling  lurks  in  the  senti- 
ment of  the  English  bibliophile. 
Books  satin  lined  are  in  some  degree 
effeminate  —  a  proper  treatment  for 
some  books,  when  one  comes  to  think 
of  it. 

The  doublure  of  leather  is  ancient 
and  imposing — consecrated  to  the  chef 
d'ceuvre   of  the    craftsman.       It  shares 

26 


Of  End  Papers 

equally  with  the  outer  board  in  decora- 
tion, and  at  times  takes  the  lion's  share. 
It  is  always  expensive,  and  few  are 
the  Bibliophiles  who  boast  of  many 
examples.  In  decoration  it  should  dif- 
fer from,  but  be  in  strict  harmony  with, 
the  outer  tooling.  In  color  equally 
should  it  differ  from  the  outside,  but 
match  as  nearly  as  may  be  the  adjoin- 
ing fly.  Historically  it  is  in  harmony 
with  the  oldest  books  ;  for  one  must 
dispel  the  illusion  that  past  centuries 
were  sombre,  and  that  the  luxury  of  the 
book-lover  is  a  new  thing.  Perpetually 
we  discover  our  extravagances  in  the 
past. 


27 


IV 


OF  LEATHER  JOINTS  AND  OF  SEWING 


•ntim  TITiIiUlliAMiJ>L.'i'JMJt\iMMX^ 


IV 

OF  LEATHER  JOINTS  AND  OF  SEWING 

CLOSELY  related  to  the  choice  of 
end  papers  is  the  matter  of 
leather  joints.  Is  the  book  to 
have  a  doublure?  If  so,  a  leather  joint 
is  essential.  Not  only  does  the  joint 
change  the  aspect  of  the  inner  cover  by 
making  it  a  panel;  but  it  is  utilitarian 
as  well.  It  strengthens  the  binding  in 
its  weakest  point.  Of  all  the  dilapi- 
dated bindings  which  the  past  be- 
queaths to  us,  the  majority  are  broken 
in  the  joint.  Either  the  outer  leather 
itself  has  parted  and  the  boards  hang 
loose  on  the  cords  which  bind  them  to 
the  back,  or  else  the  interior  joint  has 
parted  from  the  body  of  the  book.  A 
leather  joint  safeguards  both  of  these 
mishaps. 

The    folio    or    heavy    quarto    is    far 

31 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

stronger  with  a  leather  joint.  The 
weight  of  such  a  book  always  threatens 
to  tear  it  from  its  cover;  and  thus 
some  reinforcement  of  the  inner  joint 
becomes  physically  necessary.  With 
small  books,  however,  the  case  is  dif- 
ferent, and  the  smaller  the  book,  the 
less  effective  is  the  leather  joint.  This 
because  to  flex  easily  under  the  light 
board,  the  leather  must  be  pared  so  thin 
that  in  actual  strength  it  is  inferior  to 
paper.  In  sizes  below  i6mo,  the 
leather  joint  is  almost  wholly  decora- 
tive ;  its  physical  raison  d'etre  has  ceased 
to  exist. 

In  all  cases  the  best  construction 
requires  that  both  the  leather  joint  and 
end  papers  be  sewn  with  the  book.  If 
this  is  not  done  (and  this  is  frequently 
the  case  even  in  bindings  of  fine  exte- 
rior) the  end  paper  and  joint  will  some 
day  part  company  with  the  printed 
text,  and  the  sham  be  hideously  re- 
vealed. 

As  to  sewing:  If  there  be  one 
element  vital  above  others,  it  is  the 
sewing.  Strip  the  craft  of  the  last  non- 
essential, and  sewing  yet  remains.     A 

32 


Of  Leather  'Joints  and  of  Sewing 

book  sewed  is  a  book  bound  —  after  a 
fashion.  And  though  this  vital  struc- 
ture is  always  hidden  from  the  view,  the 
true  book-lover  will  be  satisfied  with 
none  but  the  best  sewing  —  he  must 
feel  that  the  foundation  of  the  work  is 
the  best  that  can  be  had. 

Silk  is  the  only  true  material.  It 
has  the  greatest  strength  in  the  least 
bulk.  It  is  pliable  and  soft,  and  will 
bind  together  papers  of  the  tenderest 
texture.  Above  all,  it  defies  damp, 
mould  and  the  ravening  worm. 

But  the  selection  of  the  best  mate- 
rial by  no  means  states  the  problem. 
There  are  two  standard  modes  of  sew- 
ing—  "flexible"  sewing,  and  sewing 
upon  cords  buried  in  saw-cuts  in  the 
back.  Upon  the  choice  of  these  de- 
pends the  whole  character  of  the  bind- 
ing and,  I  might  almost  say,  its  artistic 
integrity. 

Flexible  sewing  is  the  most  ancient 
and  the  best  of  methods  —  the  only 
method,  in  fact,  in  which  the  familiar 
bands  which  decorate  and  give  charac- 
ter to  our  books  are  more  than  a  pre- 
tense.    Without  going  into  detail,  the 

5  33 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

process  is  as  follows:  in  this  method 
the  back  of  the  book  is  never  sawed, 
but  the  sections,  one  after  the  other,  are 
placed  against  upright  cords,  and  the 
sewer  carrying  the  thread  along  the  in- 
terior of  the  section  passes  it  through 
the  back,  around  the  cord,  and  then  to 
the  interior  again,  repeating  the  opera- 
tion as  each  cord  is  reached.  Thus, 
each  section  is  firmly  bound  to  as  many 
cords  as  we  see  on  the  back  when  the 
book  is  covered;  thus,  also,  in  this 
practice  the  bands — the  true  ribs  and 
framework  of  the  book,  —  have  a  phy- 
sical raison  d'etre.  The  bands  are  "  real 
bands,"  as  the  craftsman  says,  and  the 
Bibliophile  of  a  true  taste  will  delight 
in  this  visible  and  beautiful  construc- 
tion, and  (in  little)  his  eye  will  find  the 
same  pleasure  as  in  following  the  lines 
of  support  in  a  perfectly  constructed 
building. 

All  the  old  books  were  sewed  thus; 
though  at  times  strips  of  parchment  or 
leather  were  used  instead  of  cords,  and 
thereby  resulted  in  a  flat  back.  This 
was  the  Dutch  method.  Flexible  sew- 
ing is  the  ideal  method,  whether  the 

34 


Of  Leather  'Joints  and  of  Sewing 

bands  be  raised  or  flat.  No  other  con- 
struction is  so  strong,  so  permanent  and 
consistent. 

It  was  for  the  eighteenth  century  to 
discover  the  method  of  sawing  books, 
and  a  way  to  cheap  and  easy  sewing. 
Ninety-nine  books  out  of  one  hundred 
are  thus  sewn  at  the  present  day. 

The  process  briefly  is  as  follows: 
The  sections  placed  together  are  sawed 
across  the  back,  the  cut  being  deep 
enough  to  hold  the  cords  on  which  the 
book  is  to  be  sewed.  The  thread,  in- 
stead of  encircling  the  cords  —  always 
of  necessity  thinner  and  weaker  than 
raised  bands  —  passes  under  them. 
Thus,  when  the  sewing  is  finished,  there 
is  no  projection  on  the  back.  Then 
again,  books  sewed  in  this  manner  do 
not  have  the  leather  pasted  directly  to 
the  sections ;  but  instead,  a  double  fold 
of  paper  is  pasted  on  the  back,  which, 
when  the  book  opens,  springs  apart  and 
we  have  the  familiar  "hollow"  or 
"spring"  back.  This  treatment  has  its 
uses  and  at  times  a  peculiar  fitness; 
yet  its  merits  are  over-balanced  by  its 
defects. 

35 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

The  advantages  are  these:  cheap- 
ness, rapidity  in  sewing;  and,  what  is 
more  patent  to  the  reader,  the  book 
opens  more  easily  —  but,  alas!  does  this 
by  reason  of  intrinsic  frailty.  The  de- 
fects are  these :  the  book  itself  is  deeply 
scored  by  sawing;  the  bands  on  which 
the  book  is  sewn  are  fewer,  weaker; 
the  leather  covering,  which  in  the 
other  method  is  a  great  source  of 
strength,  becomes  here  a  nearly  useless 
adjunct,  a  decoration  chiefly,  fair  with- 
out but  "hollow"  within  —  to  become 
eventually  a  mere  flap  of  leather,  hang- 
ing by  fragments  here  and  there.  The 
visible  bands,  if  the  book  has  any,  are 
sham,  aping  the  classical  construc- 
tion. 

In  choosing  between  these  two 
methods  the  true  bibliophile  will  not 
hesitate,  except  perhaps  in  peculiar  in- 
stances subsequently  to  be  noted. 

Have  your  book  sewn  "  flexible,"  in 
the  craftsman's  phrase,  or,  as  Roger 
Payne  has  it  in  his  quaint  letter  to  Lord 
Spencer :  "  Bound  in  the  very  best  man- 
ner, sewed  with  Silk,  every  Sheet  round 
every  Bandy  not  false  Bands.      .      .      ." 

36 


Of  heather  'Joints  and  of  Sewing 

Sewing  is  hidden ;  how  shall  the  Bib- 
liophile distinguish  between  the  meth- 
ods when  holding  the  finished  product 
in  his  hand  ?  In  general  there  are  two 
features  which  betray  the  sawed  book. 
First,  if  one  pries  down  at  the  center 
of  a  signature,  the  track  of  the  saw  and 
the  inlaid  cords  are  visible.  Second, 
if  on  opening  the  book  the  back  springs 
from  the  outer  leather  (if  it  be  a  "  hol- 
low "  or  "spring"  back)  then  the  book 
is  probably  sawed;  unless,  indeed,  the 
book  be  sewed  after  the  Dutch 
method,  flexible  on  strips  of  parch- 
ment ;  or  in  trade  parlance  "  flexible 
not  to  show" — a  modification  of  the 
Dutch  method  where  cords  are  substi- 
tuted for  parchment  but  are  hammered 
into  the  back.  The  first  test  is  alone 
decisive  (though  at  times  a  dangerous 
experiment)  for  some  binders  by  heavy 
lining  give  such  rigidity  to  the  back 
that  the  hollow  never  appears;  and  the 
book  can  be  opened  so  as  to  see  the 
cords  only  at  the  expense  of  a  broken 
back. 

There  is  still  another  feature  which 
may   be   examined  —  the   bands  them- 

37 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

selves.  Are  they  false  bands?  The 
more  neatly  the  leather  covers  them 
the  more  likely  they  are  false.  The 
real  band  is  a  round  cord;  the  imita- 
tion is  a  strip  of  parchment,  square  in 
its  angles  and  more  easily  covered  with 
the  leather.  Again:  are  the  bands  at 
the  exact  point  w^here  the  cords  are 
laced  into  the  boards?  —  a  fact  some- 
times to  be  made  out  by  a  slight  pro- 
tuberance on  the  outer  leather,  or  by 
an  irregularity  in  the  inner  joint.  If 
so,  the  bands  are  real.  There  is  no 
sure  test  when  the  work  comes  from  a 
craftsman  of  the  greatest  skill.  If  all 
signs  fail  there  is  still  instinct,  that  un- 
conscious reasoning  from  experience 
which  seldom  errs. 


38 


OF  ROUNDING,  OF  BACKING,  AND  OF 
BOARDING 


OF  ROUNDING,  OF  BACKING,  AND  OF 
BOARDING 

ROUNDING    and    backing    stand 
together  and  include  the  various 
steps  by  which  the  back  is  shaped 
and    the    grooves  made    in    which    the 
covers  lie. 

The  book  is  sewed;  and  the  crafts- 
man, knocking  the  back  upon  a  flat  sur- 
face, brings  all  the  sections  in  align- 
ment. Thus  the  back  is  flat  and  in 
this  condition  the  book  is  lowered  into 
the  press.  If  examined,  it  will  be  seen 
that  each  section  is  slightly  separated 
from  its  neighbor,  the  back  forming  a 
series  of  parallel  gutters.  These  the 
workman  fills  with  hot,  thin  glue. 
When  the  excess  is  removed  in  subse- 
quent manipulations,  each  section  will 
be  bound  firmly  to  the  other.  At  this 
point  however  the  glue  is  not  allowed 

6  41 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

to  harden ;  but  as  soon  as  it  is  fairly 
set  and  still  tacky  to  the  touch,  the 
book  is  taken  from  the  press,  and  with 
a  hammer,  the  workman  gives  that  de- 
gree of  convexity  which  the  particular 
book  demands.  Here  we  have  a  choice. 
Does  the  Bibliophile  prefer  a  flat  back 
or  a  back  well  rounded  ?  Between  the 
the  two  extremes  all  degrees  of  curva- 
ture are  possible.  Yet  there  are  struc- 
tural matters  to  be  considered.  The 
back  is  in  some  degree  a  hinge  upon 
which  each  leaf  swings  as  we  turn  the 
pages.  There  is  danger  that  a  perfectly 
flat  back  will  become  concave  with  use. 
Thus,  for  security  a  slight  rounding  is 
always  better,  but  it  should  not  be  ex- 
cessive. In  this  as  in  all  things  there 
is  a  golden  mean.  And  then,  too,  the 
degree  of  curvature  upon  the  back  will 
be  duplicated  in  the  concave  of  the 
fore-edge  and  the  more  of  this,  the 
easier  will  the  leaves  turn  under  the 
linger  which  releases  them.  The  nat- 
ural curve  that  the  back  takes  under 
pressure  is  in  general  the  best.  This 
will  be  determined  by  the  amount  of 
thread  used  in  sewing.     A  thick  book 

42 


Of  Hounding^  Backing,  and  Boarding 

of  many  sections  will  take  a  greater 
curvature  than  a  thin  book  holding 
little  thread. 

The  book,  now  rounded  and  with 
the  glue  still  malleable,  is  placed  in 
the  press  between  "backing  boards  "  — 
strips  of  wood  with  a  feather-edge. 
They  are  placed  from  the  back  a  dis- 
tance nearly  equal  to  the  thickness  of 
the  boards.  The  press  is  tightened ; 
the  craftsman  hammers  the  sections 
right  and  left,  welding  them  over  the 
backing  boards,  forming  thus  the  groove 
or  rabbit  in  which  the  cover  is  to  lie. 
The  glue  is  now  allowed  to  harden. 

In  the  meantime,  the  boards  have 
been  prepared.  There  are  many  quali- 
ties of  board,  and.  Bibliophile,  none 
but  the  best  is  good  enough  for  your 
best  books.  Tend  you  your  treasure 
never  so  carefully,  the  time  may  come 
when  it  slips  from  careless  fingers  (nev- 
er from  your  fingers!)  and,  after  the 
nature  of  books,  will  strike  upon  its 
corner.  If  the  boards  are  poor,  the 
scar  remains  and  one  is  fortunate  if  the 
leather  itself  is  not  split.  How  many 
thousand  bent  and  ragged  corners  have 

43 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

you  passed  while  book  hunting!  If 
the  binder  has  used  anything  but  the 
very  best  of  boards,  the  time  may  come 
when  the  book  whose  safety  and  beauty 
are  now  your  care  will  wound  you,  Bib- 
liophile, with  its  own  poor  wounded 
corner.  Nothing  is  beyond  destruc- 
tion ;  but  I  may  say  that  a  book  clad  in 
the  very  best  of  boards  may  pass  through 
many  a  fall  with  very  little  damage.  I 
regret  to  say  that  the  very  best  of 
boards  are  not  a  product  of  our  native 
land. 

Rounded  corners  are  safer,  though 
ugly  ;  but  the  very  slightest  bit  taken 
from  the  extreme  point  of  the  corner 
is,  perhaps,  an  added  beauty.  One  feels 
the  increased  strength,  and  there  is 
some  slight  touch  of  the  antique 
about  it. 

It  is  apparent  that  the  proper  thick- 
ness of  the  board  must  be  determined 
by  the  size  and  thickness  of  the  book 
—  to  a  degree,  also,  by  its  character. 
A  venerable  and  learned  tome,  whose 
black  letter  was  at  one  time  pressed  by 
wooden  covers,  can,  naturally  and  by 
education,  stand  proportionally  thicker 

44 


Of  Roundingy  Backings  and  Boarding 

boards  than  a  dainty  and  frivolous 
eighteenth  century  *^ltvre  a  vignettes." 
The  BibUophile  and  the  binder  can 
unite  in  good  taste  at  this  point. 

The  board  should  always  be  covered 
on  both  sides  with  paper.  This  gives 
strength,  makes  it  less  liable  to  warp, 
as  well  as  prevents  the  tar  and  other 
ingredients  from  staining  the  fine  leath- 
er which  is  to  cover  it. 

The  size  to  which  the  boards  are  cut 
is  determined  by  whether  the  book  is 
to  be  uncut  or  have  its  edges  gilded  — 
a  solemn  question,  treated  in  the  fol- 
lowing chapter.  It  is  determined,  too, 
by  the  amount  of  projection  ("square") 
to  be  left  beyond  the  edge.  The 
"  square  "  protects  the  edge  ;  it  lifts  it 
above  the  shelf  and  stands  out  bravely 
to  receive  the  blow.  It  should  be  suf- 
ficient for  this,  but  no  more.  Its  size 
should  be  measured  by  its  purpose  ;  and 
it  is  evident  that  an  excessive  "  square," 
unsupported  by  the  body  of  the  book, 
is  itself  liable  to  be  disfigured.  In  gen- 
eral the  tendency  is  to  make  the  square 
too  large.  The  old  binders  were  more 
moderate  in  this  respect. 

45 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

The  squares  of  a  trimmed  book 
should  all  be  equal  — top,  fore-edge  and 
tail — though  perhaps  the  latter  should 
be  a  trifle  greater,  to  allow  for  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  sag  in  the  book  itself. 
The  squares  on  uncut  edges  must  neces- 
sarily be  great  to  cover  irregularities. 

The  binder  next  concerns  himself 
with  the  bands  on  which  the  book  is 
sewed.  He  ravels  the  loose  ends,  im- 
pregnates them  with  paste,  and  laces 
them  at  least  twice  through  holes 
pierced  in  the  boards.  Where  they 
pass  from  the  back  to  the  first  hole, 
they  are  countersunk.  They  are  drawn 
tight  and  the  waste  cut  off;  then,  with 
each  board  put  between  plates  of  tin, 
the  whole  book  is  subjected  to  the 
heaviest  pressure  it  has  yet  received. 
Some  binders,  to  save  time  and  trouble, 
cut  away  some  of  the  cords;  and  thus, 
though  the  book  is  sewed  upon  five 
cords,  only  three  may  be  laced  into  the 
boards.  This  should  not  be  done,  ex- 
cept, perhaps,  in  very  small  books;  and 
even  in  these  cases  there  will  be  great- 
er artistic  honesty  if  the  book  is  sewn 
upon  fewer  bands. 

46 


Of  Rounding^  Backings  and  Boarding 

Before  the  heavy  pressing,  however, 
the  glued  back  is  covered  with  flour 
paste  which  softens  and  amalgamates 
with  the  excess  of  glue.  The  excess 
is  scraped  away,  and  the  back  rubbed 
smooth  and  even.  Thus,  in  the  per- 
fectly bound  book  there  remains  but  a 
surprisingly  small  amount  of  adhesive 
matter ;  for,  strange  to  say,  in  much  glue 
there  is  weakness  and  not  strength. 

If  the  binding  is  to  be  "flexible" 
—  the  ideal  method,  —  the  leather 
in  the  final  covering  will  be  pasted  di- 
rectly to  the  back,  on  the  paper  of  the 
sections  in  fact,  and  worked  down 
between  the  projecting  bands. 

But,  even  if  bound  "flexible,"  the 
nations  stand  divided  on  the  degree  of 
flexibility  to  be  allowed.  The  modern 
Frenchman's  "flexible"  back  is  as 
hard  as  adamant — unless  it  breaks; 
while  the  Englishman's  "flexible" 
back  is  more  flexible,  and  at  times  is 
actually  observed  to  flex.  Which  of 
the  two  is  the  better  ?  The  question  is 
important.  The  deciding  facts  are 
these :  books  are  printed  upon  paper 
because    paper    is    a    flexible   material, 

47 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

bending  without  breaking,  and  lying 
smoothly  as  we  turn  the  pages.  If  the 
paper  of  your  book  has  this  prime 
quality,  /.  e,y  if  you  can  bend  it,  a  solid 
back  has  great  advantages.  The  leaf 
turns  on  itself,  is  its  own  hinge  in 
truth ;  and  the  back,  lined  with  a  coat- 
ing of  strong  paper,  or  better  still,  of 
thin  leather,  stands  a  solid  foundation 
for  tooling  which  will  never  flake 
away.  One  sees  that  "flexible"  is  a 
mere  craftsman's  word,  and  only  indi- 
cates the  method  of  the  work. 

Suppose,  however,  that  you  have  one 
of  our  modern  "thick  paper  copies" — 
a  book  printed  on  inchoate  cardboard, 
on  a  paper  which  misses  the  whole 
purpose  of  paper,  on  a  detestable  and 
unholy  material,  made  by  the  devil 
for  the  purpose  of  ensnaring  souls.  Or 
—  to  go  a  step  further  —  suppose  that 
your  book    is    printed  on  china  slabs. 

What  then?  How  will  you  bind 
it?  —  for  the  book  must  open.  In  this 
case  the  back  must  be  flexible  to  the 
last  degree;  and  you  will  have  the 
satisfaction  of  looking  forward  to  the 
day    when   the    tooling    will    chip    in 

48 


Of  Rounding^  Backings  and  Boarding 

pieces  from  the  back,  and  it  may  be, 
the  back  itself  will  break.  Or,  you 
have  the  alternative  of  the  hollow  or 
spring  back,  which  will  break  more 
readily,  with  catastrophe  to  the  joints 
thrown  in. 

Of  course  the  Bibliophile  will  never 
buy  a  book  on  coated  paper,  if  he 
can  help  it.  He  wants  his  clay  tablets 
of  an  earlier  date.  Every  bookbinder 
wishes  likewise  that  he  would  refuse 
books  on  "thick"  paper.  The  paper- 
maker  may  retort:  "This  is  merely 
craft  egotism  which  sees  nothing  but 
the  binding  in  a  book.  Books  are  not 
made  for  binding  solely ;  but,  first,  to 
support  the  paper  trade;  second,  to  be 
read ;  third,  and  lastly,  to  be  bound 
when  my  *  thick '  paper  comes  away 
like  a  pack  of  cards  in  the  reader's 
hands." 

But  the  answer  is  that  there  is  not  one 
desirable  quality  which  thick  paper  has 
over  a  delicate  laid  paper,  except  that 
it  makes  a  short  book  look  a  trifle 
longer.  It  is  not  stronger;  it  is  not 
less  subject  to  stain  and  damp ;  it  is  not 
nearly  such  a  joy  to  handle,  and  knows 

7  49 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

nothing  of  that  caressing  habit  of  fif- 
teenth century  paper  gliding  under  the 
finger-tips  like  silk  and  ivory. 

Let  us  not  be  deceived;  our  book- 
despising  neighbor  who  some  day, 
when  we  are  out,  slips  in  and  surrepti- 
tiously turns  down  a  corner  of  our 
"thick  paper"  copy  is  the  most  admir- 
able of  iconoclasts —  a  worthy  breaker 
of  unworthy  idols. 


50 


VI 
OF  EDGES  AND  EDGE  GILDING 


VI 

OF  EDGES  AND  EDGE  GILDING 

**  Belin.  .  .  .  Now  pray,  sir,  inform  us  what  is  meant 
by  that  strange  term.  Uncut  copies? 

"  Lysand.  Of  all  the  symptoms  of  bibliomania,  this  is 
probably  the  most  extraordinary.  It  may  be  defined,  a  pas- 
sion to  possess  books  of  which  the  edges  have  not  been 
sheared  by  the  binder's  tools.  And  here  I  find  myself 
walking  upon  doubtful  ground.      .      .      .  " 

Dibdin  ;  Bibliomania. 

THE  book  should  be  left  as  long 
as  possible  in  the  giant  embrace 
of  the  standing  press.       Here  it 
dries  and  hardens — "  sets,"  so  to  speak, 
and  from  a  semi-fluid  takes  solid,  final 
form. 

The  next  step  in  binding  is  the 
treatment  of  the  edges.  The  choice 
is  wide.  The  Bibliophile  may  leave 
the  edges  untouched,  in  the  virgin  yet 
crass  state  in  which  the  printer  left 
them.  Or,  the  edges  may  be  cut  and 
full  gilt ;  or,  gilt  on  the  top  only, 
"  other  edges  uncut"  ;  or,  while  uncut, 

53 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

they  may  be  gilded  "  on  the  rough." 
Or,  the  trimmed  edge  may  be  treated 
with  a  single  color ;  or,  lastly,  they 
may  be  marbled. 

We  may  exclude,  however,  the  last 
treatment,  as  it  is  unlikely  that  to-day 
any  bibliophile  will  have  marbled 
edges,  save  only  when  the  marble  is 
covered  with  a  burnished  shield  of 
gold. 

All  bibliomaniacs,  and  a  host  of 
bibliophiles  as  well,  will  rise  up  to  say 
that,  to  the  true  book-lover,  there  are 
but  two  possibilities  —  edges  innocent 
of  any  treatment,  or,  at  the  most,  a 
top  edge  slightly   trimmed  and   gilded. 

What  then  is  the  philosophy  of  un- 
cut edges  ?  Are  they  a  thing  of  beau- 
ty ?  No.  Do  they  preserve  the  book  ? 
No  ;  they  are  the  receptacle  of  dust 
and  a  high  road  to  all  enemies  of  books. 
Let  us  take  the  collector's  own  reasons, 
which  surely  are  the  best.  To  begin 
with,  the  untrimmed  book  is  as  the 
author  first  beheld  it.  All  the  illusive 
joys  of  his  literary  paternity  were  asso- 
ciated with  an  object  such  as  this.  A 
valid  reason,  surely,  but  note  that  the 

54 


Of  Edges  and  Edge  Gilding 

same  reason  can  be  advanced  against 
any  rebinding  whatsoever.  The  original 
book,  as  the  poet  handled  it,  was  in 
somber  stamped  cloth  or  fragile  boards. 
Preserve  it  thus,  and  no  man  can  blame 
you.  Second,  says  the  man  of  uncut 
edges.  My  book  will  bring  a  higher 
price.  True  —  in  most  instances  —  if 
it  be  left  in  its  primal  cover.  To  the 
bibliophile  who  advances  these  reasons 
there  is  no  reply.  But  note  that  for 
the  same  reasons  he  will  not  have  his 
book  rebound  at  all ;  and  thus  it  ceases 
to  be  a  question  of  bookbinding.  We 
exclude  also  the  Bibliomane  who  cher- 
ishes his  copy  unbound  in  the  original 
folded  sheets.  He  can  advance  noth- 
ing for  his  aberration,  except  that  it  is 
in  the  best  state  for  binding.  Therefore 
he  retains  it  coverless.  Not  thus  did 
the  poet  dream  to  see  his  book,  nor  in 
this  form  did  he  love  it.  Why  not 
collect  the  type  from  which  the  book 
was  printed,  or  the  pulp  from  which 
the  craftsman  made  the  paper  ?  Both 
are  very  "  early  states." 

But  leaving  this  folly,  let  us  turn  to 
the  man  who  intends  to  have  his  book 

55 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

rebound,  sparing  neither  thought  nor 
money  to  achieve  the  best  result. 
Among  these,  too,  you  will  find  him 
who,  in  a  book  clad  in  the  finest  levant, 
crushed,  polished  and  tooled  by  the 
best  artist,  will  yet  retain  the  edges  in 
the  pristine  state.  Such  an  one  advan- 
ces various  pleas.  First,  he  finds  beau- 
ty in  the  deckle  edge.  He  cherishes 
even  those  folds  which  have  escaped 
the  paper  cutter.  Let  not  the  profane 
tell  him  that  he  cannot  read  the  book. 
We  grant  that  none  but  a  Philistine 
could  make  this  trivial  retort.  And 
equally  foolish  is  it  to  dwell  upon  the 
difficulty  of  turning  uncut  leaves.  No 
patience  is  too  minute  for  the  true  col- 
lector. In  such  pains  lies  the  volup- 
tuousness of  his  cult.  He  turns  the 
leaves,  cut  or  uncut,  one  by  one,  as 
something  precious.  He  is  like  the 
miser,  handling  in  secret  his  treasure 
piece  by  piece.  'Tis  for  these  delights 
that  he  is  a  bibliophile. 

No,  the  one  who  thus  rebinds  a 
book  can  not  justify  it  on  the  plea 
of  beauty.  At  this  point  I  take 
issue.      Keep    the    book    uncut    in    its 

56 


Of  Edges  and  Edge  Gilding 

original  cover  and  we  may  all  go  with 
you,  smiling,  hand  in  hand.  But  if 
you  rebind  it,  through  choice  or 
through  necessity,  have  it  rebound  in 
the  fullest  sense.  Have  a  perfect  and 
coherent  product.  With  half-bindings 
one  may  leave  the  **  other  edges  un- 
cut ; "  but  there  is  an  artistic  solecism 
in  full  leather,  richly  tooled,  in  con- 
junction with  crude  edges,  hideously 
white.  Whatever  artistic  fitness  they 
may  have  had  in  sober  cloth,  is  lost  the 
moment  that  one  binds  in  leather. 

"But,"  one  answers,  "to  cut  the 
edges  leaves  my  book  the  smaller. 
Elzevirs,  as  one  knows,  are  valued  by 
millimeters  and  are  treasured  like  dia- 
monds for  the  fraction  of  a  carat." 
True.  But  to  the  plea  of  beauty,  and 
the  plea  of  value,  there  are  two  replies. 
Beauty  of  margin  lies  in  proportion, 
not  in  size.  Fair  margins  are  always 
fair  when  contrasted  with  a  hideously 
cropped  "bouquin"  where  the  text 
struggles  for  breathing  space.  Yet 
were  octavo  pages  struck  on  sheets  in 
folio,  would  they  be  more  beautiful? 
William    Morris,    preoccupied    chiefly 

8  57 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

with  the  cult  of  beauty,  found  in  mod- 
erate margins  the  truest  loveliness. 
There  is  no  sanctity  in  waste  paper. 

If  one  hark  backward  a  little,  one 
will  find,  I  think,  the  true  key  to  the 
rage  for  uncut  copies.  In  the  past, 
binders  sinned  cruelly  against  the  books 
they  bound.  Even  the  great  Le 
Gascon  is  charged  with  a  keener  eye 
to  a  well  filled  shaving  tub  than  to  ele- 
gance of  margin.  Head  lines  and  signa- 
tures were  nothing  to  these  ancient 
craftsmen.  The  book  collectors  of  the 
past  sought  fair  margins  because  it  was 
difficult  to  find  a  book  with  any  mar- 
gin ;  and  we  of  to-day  have  trans- 
muted a  natural  and  just  desire  for 
beautiful  unmaimed  books  into  a  stub- 
born prejudice.  We  seek  excessive 
margins,  rather  than  those  of  the  just 
proportion  which  is  beautiful.  All  ex- 
tremes are  evil,  and  this  excess  but  a 
trifle  less  so  than  the  evil  that  it  sought 
to  cure. 

Still  the  collector  asks  :  "  Then  what 
am  I  to  do  ?  My  precious  copy  was,  as 
you  say,  profaned  by  the  Philistine.  Shall 
it  be  cropped  again,  adding  to  the  evil  ?  " 

58 


Of  Edges  and  Edge  Gilding 

Certainly  not,  nor  is  it  necessary. 
The  book,  though  already  cut,  may  be 
full  gilt  "on  the  rough,"  and  the 
amount  of  margin  to  be  sacrificed  will 
be  microscopic.  The  modern  binder 
manages  this  in  several  ways.  For  ex- 
ample, before  sewing  the  loose  signa- 
tures are  knocked  to  a  level  and  then 
gilt  on  each  successive  edge.  Thus 
only  the  slightest  scraping  is  necessary. 
Instead  of  cutting  down  the  large  sec- 
tions to  the  dimensions  of  the  small 
ones,  the  latter  are  raised,  temporarily, 
to  the  level  of  the  former.  Then, 
after  gilding,  the  book  is  sewed,  and 
the  tops  of  the  sections  only  are 
brought  into  alignment.  The  other 
edges  fall  where  they  will.  Nothing 
has  been  lost  in  size,  yet  the  edges  are 
full  gilt,  are,  in  fact,  in  the  only  possi- 
ble artistic  harmony  with  the  decorated 
cover.  The  effect  is  often,  to  my 
mind,  finer  than  a  solidly  gilt  edge. 
The  mosaics  at  Ravenna,  in  which  the 
tesserae  are  not  polished  to  a  level,  re- 
flect the  light  from  a  thousand  gilded 
facets  —  incomparably  deeper  and  more 
brilliant  than  a  polished  surface.     The 

59 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

same  beauty  may  be  found  in  the  un- 
equal surface  of  rough  gilt  edges. 

With  new  books,  yet  untrimmed, 
the  small  amount  of  margin  necessary 
to  solid  gilding  may  well  be  spared,  if 
a  solid  edge  is  wanted.  The  modern 
binder,  smarting  under  the  taunts  of 
generations  of  book-lovers,  is  wiser 
than  his  ancestor.  He  respects  mar- 
gins, even  in  cutting  them,  and  as  one 
turns  the  pages  he  will  find  many  un- 
touched with  gold,  "witness"  leaves 
or  "/fwo/wj,"  showing  both  the  discre- 
tion of  the  craftsman  and  the  original 
amplitude  of  the  smaller  pages.  It  is 
even  possible  to  gild  on  deckle  edges. 

Thus  it  seems,  if  a  book  is  to  be  re- 
bound at  all  there  is  no  sound  reason 
for  anything  but  full  gilt  edges. 

It  is  not  my  intention  to  enter  into 
the  technical  details  of  edge  gilding; 
they  are  abstruse  and  minute.  Success 
is  difficult  to  any  but  the  skilled  crafts- 
man, and  there  are  probably  more 
ways  of  failing  than  in  any  other  step 
in  bookbinding. 

There  are  many  charming  variations 
in  solid  gilt  edges.     One  may  have  a 

60 


Of  Edges  and  Edge  Gilding 

mat  surface,  unpolished,  often  harmo- 
nious with  a  very  ancient  tome.  One 
may  have  the  edges  gauffered  or  tooled 
—  another  practice  which  is  very  an- 
cient. Elaborate  as  it  may  seem,  it  is 
historically  in  touch  with  the  oldest 
books.  Then  there  is  gilding  over 
marble  —  a  favorite  embellishment  of 
the  French.  Then  again  landscapes 
may  be  painted  on  the  edges  which  are 
then  gilded.  The  picture  shows  only 
when  the  book  is  opened.  This  is  an 
English  practice  ;  yet  a  landscape  on  a 
book  edge  seems  out  of  place,  and 
must  rank  among  the  curiosities  of  the 
craft.  There  is  no  reason,  however, 
why  painted  arabesque  designs  should 
not  be  used. 

Such  are  the  refinements  of  edge 
treatment.  But  edge  gilding,  to  my 
eyes,  is  not  a  refinement,  but  neces- 
sary to  the  full  bound  book.  Still,  all 
styles  to  all  tastes.  The  present  fashion 
proclaims  the  sanctity  of  virgin  edges. 
It  lies  with  the  future  to  decide,  when 
some  day,  in  that  great  judgment  hall 
of  books  —  the  auction  room  —  the 
sheep  shall  be  divided  from  the  goats. 

61 


VII 
OF  HEADBANDS 


VII 
OF  HEADBANDS 

THE  headband  serves  a  double  pur- 
pose —  strengthens  the  book  at  a 
weak  point,  and  raises  the  back  to 
the  same  height  as  the  projecting 
boards.  And,  moreover,  though  serv- 
ing these  wholly  utilitarian  ends,  it  in- 
variably effloresces  in  a  bit  of  decora- 
tion —  crowns  the  work  with  brilliant 
woven  silk. 

The  true  headband  is  made  by  hand, 
and,  in  the  making,  is  sewn  into  the 
back.  It  is  thus  integral  with  the 
book ;  and  the  strips  of  vellum  or  cat- 
gut on  which  the  strands  are  wound  are, 
in  fact,  additional  bands,  and  serve  the 
same  ends  as  the  others,  binding  the 
sections  together  at  a  point  where  they 
are  held  by  no  other  sewing.  The  ear- 
liest   headbands  were,   in  fact,   merely 

9  65 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

the  terminal  bands  on  which  the  book 
was  sewn.  They  were  stretched  on  the 
sewing  press  with  the  other  bands,  and, 
like  them,  afterwards  laced  into  the 
boards.  Ancient  headbands  done  in 
this  fashion  stand  out  from  the  back 
with  the  other  ribs.  The  same  effect 
in  modern  work  may  be  seen  in  some 
of  the  beautiful  pig-skin  bindings  by 
Mr.  Cobden-Sanderson.  In  these, 
however,  the  projection  is  merely  a 
decorative  feature,  in  touch  with  the 
archaic  typography  of  the  Kelmscott 
books.  The  ends  of  the  headbands  are 
not  laced  into  the  boards  ;  and  indeed 
the  strength  thus  gained  would  be  off- 
set by  a  corresponding  weakness,  for 
in  covering  the  book  the  leather  where 
it  is  turned  in  must  be  cut  to  admit  the 
band.  This  cut  at  a  point  where  the 
leather  is  always  flexed  in  opening  the 
book  would,  in  a  moderate  sized  vol- 
ume, be  a  point  of  weakness.  But  in 
large  and  heavy  folios  having  a  thick 
turn-in  of  leather,  a  headband  sewn 
with  the  book  and  laced  into  the 
boards  would  be  an  ideal  treatment  both 
to  the  technical  and  the  artistic  eye. 

66 


Of  Headbands 

As  to  the  materials  for  headbanding  : 
The  ground  work  should  be  a  strip  of 
vellum,  if  a  vertical  headband  is  wanted, 
or,  for  the  fat  round  headband  of  our 
forefathers,  a  piece  of  cat-gut  of  the 
proper  size.  Of  the  two,  the  round 
headband  is,  I  think,  the  stronger;  but 
the  vertical  is  more  delicate  and  of  fin- 
er grace.  Then,  too,  there  are  double 
and  triple  decked  headbands  woven  on 
as  many  strips. 

For  fine  books  there  is  no  excuse  for 
weaving  the  bands  with  anything  but 
silk — save,  sometimes,  for  added  gor- 
geousness,  a  gold  thread  may  be  added 
to  the  others.  Two  or  more  colors 
may  be  mingled  on  the  headbander's 
loom  (her  fingers) — or  she  may  work 
in  a  single  hue,  if  such  be  the  artistic 
call  of  the  moment.  If  the  edges  are 
gilded  there  seems  to  be  no  brilliancy 
of  headband  which  does  not  fit  the  sob- 
erest of  covers.  With  plain  morocco 
innocent  of  tooling,  a  bright  headband 
is  a  catch  point  —  pleasing  the  eye,  giv- 
ing richness  to  the  whole.  On  uncut 
edges  virgin  white,  or  on  edges  of  a 
solid  color,  a  headband  of  a  single  color 

07 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

would    seem   to  be  the  better    choice. 

It  is  apparent,  of  course,  that  in  all 
cases  the  colors  of  the  band,  be  it  one 
or  many,  must  harmonize  with  the 
color  of  the  leather.  Of  a  different 
color  it  should  always  be,  but  always 
of  a  color  in  harmony. 

As  was  said,  a  hand  woven  headband 
strengthens  the  book  —  how  greatly 
will  depend  upon  the  number  of  times 
the  weaver  has  passed  her  needle 
through  the  back.  This  may  be  once 
in  every  sixth  or  seventh  turn ;  or,  more 
honestly,  it  may  be  every  second  or 
third  turn  —  the  oftener  the  better. 

All  bibliophiles,  lingering  at  the  old 
book  stalls,  have  noticed  that  even  in 
the  most  dilapidated  books  the  head- 
band continues  to  hang  by  a  thread  or 
two  long  after  the  surrounding  leather 
has  passed  the  way  of  all  flesh,  dust 
unto  dust.  The  remnant  may  be 
shaky  and  infirm,  needing  but  a  slight 
pull  to  dislodge  it  wholly.  Yet 
it  has  outlasted  the  leather  it  was 
destined  to  support.  In  such  cases 
one  usually  finds  that  the  band 
was  held  to  the  book  only  by  a  stitch 

68 


Of  Headbands 

or  two  in  the  whole  width  of  the  back. 
It  never  was  firm ;  and  it  was  largely 
because  of  this  that  the  covering 
perished.  Its  purpose  was  support; 
in  this  it  failed.  Every  time  the 
book  was  pulled  from  the  shelf  the  ill- 
sewed  headband  cast  the  strain  upon  the 
leather  —  thus  it  perished. 

In  truth  a  firm,  well  made  headband 
is  a  great  strength  to  a  book.  Though 
small,  gay,  and  of  frivolous  attire,  it 
should,  so  to  speak,  have  a  heart  of 
steel.  Next  to  the  joints  there  is  no 
part  of  a  book  which  meets  a  greater 
strain. 

What  then  is  to  be  said  of  the 
machine-made  headbands,  manufactured 
by  the  yard  and  merely  pasted  to  the 
back  for  decoration?  Nothing,  except 
that  they  are  not  for  the  best  books  of 
the  bibliophile ;  are,  indeed,  properly 
for  no  book  in  full  leather  and  expected 
to  have  a  healthy  lease  of  life.  In 
trade  binding  they  are  a  commercial 
necessity;  and,  it  is  true,  serve  the  pur- 
pose for  which  they  are  invented;  but 
there  is  no  excuse  for  putting  them  on 
any    "extra"    book.       Hand    work    in 

69 


Bookbinding  for  Bihliophiles 

headbanding  is  neither  difficult  nor  long 
to  learn,  and  not  many  minutes  are 
wasted  in  weaving  it  into  the  book. 

It  is  small — to  the  eye  a  mere  detail 
— but  it  is  through  excellence  in  details 
such  as  this  that  the  book,  coquet  at  all 
times,  is  doubly  so — decked  to  fasci- 
nate, entrap,  and  slay  the  doting  Biblio- 
phile. 


70 


VIII 
OF  THE  CHOICE  OF  LEATHERS 


VIII 
OF  THE  CHOICE  OF  LEATHERS 

THE  selection  of  leather  for  cov- 
ering is  most  important.  On  it 
depends  not  only  the  beauty  of 
the  book,  but,  more  vital,  on  it  depends 
the  durability  of  the  work.  The  cov- 
ering is  far  more  than  decoration  or 
outward  show;  it  is  a  structural  ele- 
ment. Nothing  except  the  sewing  is 
so  important.  The  boards  when  mere- 
ly laced  to  the  bands  are  neither  firm 
nor  permanently  fixed.  It  remains 
for  the  leather  to  hold  them  to  their 
proper  place,  and,  an  adjunct  to  the 
sewing,  to  bind  section  to  section  firm- 
ly, yet  flexibly. 

From  earliest  times  leather  has  been 
felt  to  be  the  natural  covering  for 
books.  Of  all  materials  it  unites  the 
two  desiderata,  strength  and  flexibility. 

10  73 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

That  sort  of  leather  which  above  others 
has  these  qualities  is,  above  others,  the 
best  for  binding. 

Yet  in  all  ages  books  have  been 
bound  in  silks,  velvets,  or  other  cloths 
—  these  often  charming  with  embroid- 
ery in  gold  and  colors.  But  such  cov- 
ers are  perishable,  as  the  collector 
knows,  and  it  is  difficult  to  find  early 
specimens  in  reasonable  condition. 
Cloths  are  with  difficulty  held  by  glue 
or  paste;  they  are  feeble  ligaments,  soil 
quickly,  and  the  decoration  in  relief  is 
easily  destroyed. 

Skins  of  almost  all  beasts  have  been 
used  in  covering,  but  morocco  or  goat 
skin,  calf,  pig  skin,  and  vellum  have 
found  the  greatest  favor.  Beyond  all 
question  morocco  is  the  king  of  binding 
leathers.  It  has  the  greatest  strength, 
durability,  and  beauty.  Books  in  "  con- 
temporary morocco"  are  the  prizes  of 
the  collector.  These  are  generally 
found  to  be  "choice"  copies — choice 
they  were  in  their  own  day,  when  sin- 
gled out  for  the  expensive  honor  of 
morocco. 

The  goat  himself  has  few  virtues;  all 

74 


Of  the  Choice  of  Leathers 

ages  have  condemned  him.  In  Attic 
groves  he  was  ever  a  terror  to  the  ten- 
der nymph,  a  follower  of  wine-bibbers, 
and  of  general  ill  repute.  Yearly  he 
wandered  in  the  desert,  bearing  the  sins 
of  a  whole  people  on  his  horny  pate. 
At  some  future  day  we  know  he  is  to  be 
divided  from  the  sheep.  Always  is  he 
typical  of  evil.  But  this  merit,  if  no 
other,  he  has  above  other  beasts;  his 
hide  is  tough.  Properly  tanned  in  su- 
mach he  is  transmuted  to  a  thing  of 
beauty,  suffers  a  "sea-change"  into 
something  fair,  and  is  honored  above 
the  very  clay  of  Caesar. 

And  then  to  thy  once  shaggy  breast. 
Now  purified,  shalt  thou  enfold 
Frail  Manon  and  fair  Juliet. 

So  sings  some  forgotten  bibliomaniac. 
We  despised  him  living,  but  we  prize 
him  dead.  Such  injustice  is  common 
to   us. 

To  speak  of  him  when  thus  trans- 
formed: There  are  moroccos  of  many 
kinds.  Chief  and  most  valued  by  the 
modern  mind  is  what  is  known  as 
levant  —  so  called  because  in  early 
times    the    skins   finest  in   quality   and 

75 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

tannage  were  brought  from  Turkey  and 
the  Levant.  These  had  not  the  gros- 
grain  which  we  now  expect  to  find  in 
our  levant.  Such  graining  is  of  course 
wholly  artificial,  a  surface  finish  ob- 
tained by  the  pressure  of  incised  plates. 
Nor  does  it  by  any  means  prove  super- 
ior treatment,  for,  if  anything,  it  lessens 
the  durability  of  the  skin  by  hardening 
its  fibre.  The  old  levant  moroccos 
were  mostly  of  smooth  finish.  Their 
charm  and  notability  lay,  not  in  grain- 
ing, but  in  the  fine  dye  and  finish. 
Often  in  fact  these  old  moroccos  are 
difficult  to  distinguish  from  superior 
calf. 

To-day  we  see  little  smooth  moroc- 
co on  our  finer  books.  Everything  is 
crushed  levant,  and,  beautiful  as  this  is, 
the  style  grows  monotonous.  There  is 
a  charm  in  smooth  morocco  when  deli- 
cately handled — a  charm  peculiar  and 
antique.  It  is  the  most  fitting  and  nat- 
ural surface  for  a  minutely  tooled  de- 
sign. One  hopes  that  the  taste  of  the 
Bibliophile  may  swing  this  way,  were  it 
only  for  variety.  Moreover,  I  think 
that  all  connoisseurs  must  feel  that  the 

76 


Of  the  Choice  of  Leathers 

older  the  book,  the  more  sympathetic 
is  a  smooth  morocco.  It  is  venerable  in 
its  fashion,  associated  with  the  past  and 
the  masterpieces  of  the  craft.  There  is 
too  much  of  the  later  nineteenth  cen- 
tury about  our  crushed  levant  to  sympa- 
thize with  the  dignified  beauty  of  early 
printing.  It  is  this  feeling  doubtless 
that  has  led  many  binders  and  biblio- 
philes to  clothe  early  books  in  pig  skin 
or  in  vellum — a  discriminating  taste. 
But  none  the  less  is  a  smooth  morocco 
in  equal  touch  with  such  books.  There 
is  ample  precedent. 

Calf  was  at  one  time  a  noble  and  en- 
during leather — preserving  in  great 
beauty  many  of  our  most  prized  books. 
Our  modern  calf — so  fair  as  it  issues 
from  the  binder's  hands — is  worthless 
in  the  majority  of  cases.  There  is 
probably  no  collector  who  does  not  as- 
sociate hopelessly  cracked  joints  with 
modern  polished  calf.  One  looks  for- 
ward to  the  catastrophe  as  inevitable. 
Yet,  cheek  by  jowl,  stands  a  calf  bind- 
ing of  the  seventeenth  or  eighteenth 
century,  reasonably  sound,  sure  to  out- 
last   our    latest    binding.      The     same 

77 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

defects  exist  in  the  so-called  Persian 
morocco,  vying  with  calf  on  the  easy 
road  to  ruin. 

Where  lies  the  difficulty?  Why 
should  the  old  book  have  still  a  longer 
term  of  years  ahead  than  the  new  one  ? 
Though  the  reason  is  simple,  its  ele- 
ments are  obscure.  The  problem  has 
been  largely  solved  by  the  admirable 
report  of  the  committee  appointed  by 
the  English  Society  of  Arts  to  inquire 
into  the  causes  of  the  decay  in  modern 
leather.  No  collector  or  librarian  can 
afford  to  be  without  this  report,  or  the 
vital  part  of  it  as  stated  by  Mr.  Doug- 
las Cockerell  in  his  recent  book. 
Bookbinding  and  the  Care  of  Books.  I 
refer  the  reader  to  these.  It  is  enough 
to  say  here  that  the  facts  prove  that  of 
all  leathers,  ours  of  to-day  is  probably 
the  worst  that  man  has  ever  tanned. 
Some  are  better  than  others,  but  none 
as  good  as  they  could  easily  be  made. 
And  note  that  physical  strength  is  no 
true  test  of  merit.  A  new  leather 
which  tears  with  difficulty  may  yet 
crumble  rapidly  to  dust,  while  another, 
apparently  weaker,  may  long  outlast  it. 

78 


Of  the  Choice  of  Leathers 

Nor  is  it  use  that  kills  the  leather  —  on 
the  contrary,  use,  like  exercise  to  man,  is 
beneficial.  The  vice  lies  deeper.  The 
true  devil  lurks  in  the  tannery,  acidu- 
ously  incarnating  himself  in  fair  forms 
of  levant  and  calf,  to  issue  and  unman 
the  bibliophile  as  in  old  days  by  the 
same  juggle  he  wrung  the  soul  of 
Anthony.  We,  like  the  faithful  saint, 
fall  only  because  we  do  not  know  the 
trick. 

With  the  new  light  shed  on  the 
causes  of  decay  we  may  look  forward 
to  a  day  when  our  markets  and 
binderies  shall  be  stocked  with  sound 
and  wholesome  leathers.  The  goat 
builds  up  his  cuticle  as  of  old  and  after 
the  old  manner,  and  we  likewise,  re- 
turning to  old  tastes  and  fashions,  will 
learn  to  tan  him  as  aforetime.* 

One  must  not,  however,  think  too 
hardly  of  the  tanner.  The  results  in 
the  past,  as  in  the  future,  rest  largely 
on    the    shoulders  of   the   Bibliophile. 

•Several  English  firms  are  already  manufacturing  leathers 
which  are  guaranteed  to  be  made  according  to  the  specifi- 
cations of  the  Society  of  Arts,  among  others  Messrs.  J. 
Merideth -Jones  &  Sons,  of  Wrexham. 

79 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

There  has  been  a  fault  in  taste.  We 
have  demanded  a  leather  of  the  highest 
surface  finish,  perfectly  uniform  in 
tone  and  brilliant  in  coloring.  As  we 
will  take  no  other,  the  manufacturer 
has  been  driven  to  supply  it.  A  purely 
natural  leather  is  not  uniform  in  tone 
and  texture.  It  is  often  full  of  varying 
tones,  mottled  and  shaded,  the  more 
so  the  more  it  shows  its  natural 
texture.  This  is  exampled  most  clear- 
ly in  the  so-called  Niger  morocco, 
tanned  by  the  natives  on  the  Niger 
River  by  primitive  methods.  Books 
bound  in  this  leather  show  a  graining 
as  rich  and  varied  as  old  mahogany  — 
effects  charming  and  to  be  desired. 
Still,  a  uniform  color  is  not  incom- 
patible with  wholesome  tannage.  In 
general,  leather  should  look  like  leath- 
er, should  be  allowed  its  own  and  nat- 
ural beauty.  If  we  accept  the  canon, 
the  problem  of  sound  leather  is  largely 
solved.  Perhaps,  also,  our  taste  shall 
be  purged  of  certain  crudities. 


80 


IX 
OF  COVERING 


IX 

OF  COVERING 

THOUGH  the  problem  of  covering 
may  seem  one  for  the  craftsman, 
there   are    points   good  and   bad 
which    should  be    understood    by    the 
collector  who  is  studying  the  problems 
of  the  art. 

When  the  skin  is  selected  the  work- 
man pares  it  in  the  proper  places. 
Leather  as  it  comes  to  the  bindery  is 
too  thick  for  any  but  the  largest  books 
—  fit  for  none  without  some  paring. 
Without  paring  the  delicate  cap  to  the 
headband  could  not  be  formed,  the  cor- 
ners could  not  be  turned-in  neat  and 
square  —  the  work  would  be  lumpy  and 
uncouth.  The  smaller  the  book,  the 
thinner  the  leather  must  be  pared.  But 
there  is  danger  in  paring.  Leather  is 
not  homogeneous  in  structure,  as  may 

83 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

be  seen  in  any  enlarged  sectional  draw- 
ing of  human  or  other  skin.  The  cen- 
ter and  foundation  layers  are  the  strong- 
est, a  web  of  interwoven  fibres;  but  as 
we  approach  the  surface  the  structure 
is  less  closely  knit,  the  fibres  more  ver- 
tical. It  follows,  irrespective  of  ques- 
tions of  thickness,  that  the  less  paring 
the  better.  It  follows  again  that  the 
cautious  binder  will  select  a  small  and 
naturally  thin  skin  for  covering  small 
books. 

Here  is  the  difficulty:  The  places 
where  of  necessity  the  most  paring 
must  be  done  are  the  places  subject  to 
the  greatest  strain.  Thus:  For  the 
folding  of  the  neatest  corner  the  leath- 
er must  here  be  very  thin  ;  yet  all  bib- 
liophiles know  the  fragility  of  corners. 
For  a  neat  and  graceful  cap  to  the 
headband  the  leather  must  be  thin ; 
yet  as  one  knows  the  cap  is  deeply 
tinctured  with  mortality.  For  the  cov- 
ers to  open  freely,  for  them  to  turn  on 
"silken  hinges,"  the  leather  must  be  thin 
at  this  point ;  yet  there  is  no  catastrophe 
more  common  than  a  broken  joint. 

The  problem  is  stated.     The  beauties 

84 


Of  Covering 

most  loved  of  the  Bibliophile,  the 
square  corner,  neat  cap  to  the  head- 
band, and  the  free  joint,  are  to  be  had 
in  their  last  perfection  only  at  our  peril. 
Of  some  books  as  of  some  women  it 
may  be  said  that  they  have  the  fatal 
gift  of  beauty. 

The  Bibliophile  sees  that  the 
binder  is  not  to  be  charged  with  the 
iniquity.  It  is  an  inherent  vice,  a  sort 
of  original  sin  in  bookbinding,  inex- 
plicable, like  all  evil  to  the  eyes  of  our 
desire. 

One  should  not  be  over  zealous  for 
"silken  hinges."  It  is  best  to  prize 
a  temperate,  wholesome  beauty  in 
our  books.  We  must  remember  that 
in  covering,  the  craftsman  is  ever 
betwixt  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea; 
that  he  can,  if  we  urge  him,  easily 
enchant  us  by  a  free  use  of  the  paring 
knife.  If  he  refuse,  we  should  hold 
him  as  an  honest  man  who  has  never 
thought  in  his  heart,  Apres  moi,  le  de- 
luge. 

Still,  books  must  open  graciously 
and  be  fair  to  see.  The  consummate 
craftsman  finds  the  golden  mean.     He 

85 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

has  at  hand  many  little  matters  of  tech- 
nical tinesse  which  enable  him  to  work 
with  sound  material. 

I  will  not  discuss  the  manipulations 
of  the  coverer.  In  these  articles  it  is 
not  sought  to  initiate  the  reader  into 
the  art  and  mystery  of  bookbinding ; 
but  rather  to  offer  a  few  suggestions  to 
the  book-lover  as  a  judge  of  binding 
—  to  do  a  little  to  minister  to  the 
polite  pleasures  of  the  connoisseur. 
Methods  are  described  only  that  their 
merits  may  become  more  clear. 

There  are  a  few  points  still  to  be 
considered.  Putting  aside  tooling,  we 
have  still  the  crushing,  the  polishing, 
the  varnishing  and  pressing  of  the  book. 

Our  present  manner  is  to  "crush" 
our  moroccos  and  levants.  The  results 
are  beautiful,  necessary  in  fact  to  a 
small  book  covered  with  grosgrain 
leather.  It  is,  likewise,  a  prerequisite 
to  a  high  polish.  To  a  certain  extent, 
though  not  seriously,  it  weakens  and 
makes  the  leather  brittle.  But  there 
are  artistic  considerations.  Many  of 
our  grained  leathers  are  beautiful  as 
they  stand;  they  have  artifice  enough 

86 


Of  Covering 

without  the  added  artifice  of  crushing 
—  undoing  what  was  first  thought 
worthy  to  be  done.  On  large  books, 
and  especially  on  old  books,  an  un- 
crushed  grain  is  sympathetic.  Blind 
tooling  looks  especially  well  on  un- 
crushed  leather. 

Varnish  is  a  preservative  when  con- 
siderately used.  It  should,  however,  be 
like  the  hidden  coat  of  mail,  which, 
unobtrusive,  deflects  the  dagger  thrust. 
It  should  not  be  pompous  and  aggres- 
sive; though  it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind 
that  time  will  dull  and  mellow  the 
highest  polish.  Leather  left  neat  has  a 
charming  effect  when  the  book  is  new ; 
but  it  is  not  fortified  against  finger 
marks,  damp  and  scratches,  as  when 
lightly  varnished. 

The  craftsman  deems  his  labor  ended 
when,  at  last,  the  book  is  resting  in  its 
final  pressure,  growing  shapely,  firm 
and  flexible  —  a  work  which  he  can 
turn  over  with  an  honest  pride,  but 
with  a  pleasure  measured  largely  by 
the  appreciation  of  its  owner. 

Who  more  to  be  envied,  artisan  or 
connoisseur?  —  there   are    psychic   and 

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Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

social  problems  in  the  heedless  question, 
and,  like  Pilate,  one  cannot  "wait  for 
an  answer."  There  is  a  moment  of 
pathos,  however,  in  the  birth  of  all  the 
works  of  man,  and  no  less  in  the  birth 
of  these  little  objets-d'arty  these  books 
fresh  from  the  binder,  launched  on  the 
perilous  journey.  All  things  are  mor- 
tal, passing;  and  this  like  the  others. 
Beautiful,  its  days  are  numbered  ;  but 
for  the  hour  it  is  none  the  less  alive, 
contributing  in  its  small  way  to  our 
pleasure.  In  this  may  the  pleasures  of 
the  Bibliophile  be  set  above  other  pleas- 
ures: They  are  innocent;  they  are  in- 
tensified by  knowledge. 


88 


PART   SECOND 

FINISHING :  THE  TECHNIQUE  OF 
TOOLING  IN  GOLD 


i 


GOLD  TOOLING :  THE  TECHNIQUE 


I 

GOLD  TOOLING :  THE  TECHNIQUE 

THE  trade  secrets  of  the  ancient 
masters  have  not  come  down  to 
us,  nor  would  these  to-day  serve 
more  than  to  satisfy  our  curiosity.  The 
merits  of  the  old  tooling  are  those  of 
the  design,  and  the  modern  craftsman 
has  at  command  receipts  and  processes 
which,  from  the  standpoint  of  tech- 
nical results,  surpass  those  of  the  past. 
The  theory  of  tooling  in  gold  is 
very  simple;  the  practice  is  rich  in 
difficulties.  Each  leather  calls  for 
some  slight  modification  of  the  formu- 
la. From  the  craftsman's  point  of 
view  all  leathers  are  divided  into  two 
classes:  porous  (represented  by  calf) 
and  non-porous  (typified  by  morocco). 
The  former  requires  some  preliminary 
treatment  to  fill  the  pores  and  make  a 
firm  ground  for  the  tooling.     This  is 

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Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

usually  accomplished  with  a  size  made 
from  vellum  clippings,  or  a  wash  of 
starch  paste  diluted  with  vinegar.  Mo- 
rocco, having  a  more  solid  surface,  may 
in  most  cases  be  worked  as  it  stands. 

The  first  step  is  making  the  design. 
It  is  done  on  paper  with  the  tools 
themselves.  Bit  by  bit  the  pattern  is 
built  up,  each  leaf,  each  flower,  calling 
for  a  separate  impression ;  each  curve 
may  mean  the  joining  of  several  tools 
(gouges),  each  dot  is  separately  im- 
pressed. Thus  it  is  seen  that  the  de- 
sign on  the  cover  of  a  book  may  rep- 
resent many  thousand  motions  by  the 
craftsman. 

The  paper  bearing  the  design  is  then 
fastened  to  the  leather;  the  tools  are 
heated,  and  again  the  workmen  goes 
over  the  pattern,  stamping  it  through 
the  paper  into  the  leather.  When  the 
paper  is  removed  the  design  is  seen 
tooled  in  "blind"  upon  the  leather. 
The  surface  is  then  dampened,  and  the 
finisher,  with  a  camel  hair  pencil  fills 
the  impressions  with  a  size  called  glair. 
This  is  a  solution  of  albumen  in  various 
combinations  to  suit  the  nature  of  the 

94 


Gold  Tooling:  The  Technique 

leather.  The  design  is  often  glaired  a 
second  time.  When  the  size  is  dry, 
the  leather  is  lightly  oiled,  and  one  or 
more  layers  of  gold  leaf  is  laid  on. 
When  the  leaf  is  pressed  down  with  a 
ball  of  cotton  the  pattern  is  seen 
through  the  gold.  Again  the  tools  are 
heated  to  a  temperature  which  varies 
with  the  leather  and  the  size  of  the 
tool.  Again  the  finisher  goes  over  the 
design,  each  tool  falling  in  its  former 
trace.  The  heated  tool  coagulates  the 
albumen,  which,  in  its  turn,  fastens  the 
gold  where  the  tool  has  struck.  The 
surplus  gold  leaf,  held  but  lightly  by 
the  oil,  is  rubbed  off  with  a  bit  of 
flannel.  The  book  is  tooled.  Such  is 
the  philosophy  of  tooling;  very  simple 
in  theory,  a  matter  of  patience  and  ac- 
curacy of  hand  and  eye;  but  so  per- 
petually is  it  complicated  with  obscure 
difficulties,  that  the  ideal  craftsmen  in 
this  kind  are  few  and  famous. 

With  these  technicalities  the  con- 
noisseur is  not  concerned.  The  ques- 
tion here  is:  What  are  the  ear  marks 
of  fine  tooling  ?  At  present  I  put  aside 
matters  of  design. 

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Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

The  gold:  it  should  be  clear,  solid, 
and  unbroken,  in  appearance  a  little 
burnished  plate  let  into  the  leather, 
with  contours  clearly  marked.  If  it  be 
mottled,  appear  to  be  burnt  in,  the 
craftsman  used  his  tool  too  hot.  If  it 
be  broken  or  imperfect,  there  was  not 
heat  enough.  If  his  skill  of  eye  or 
hand  failed  him,  the  impression  is 
"doubled";  he  did  not  strike  exactly 
in  the  blind  impression.  The  gold 
should  appear  to  be  inlaid;  that  is  to 
say,  it  should  be  sunk  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  leather.  Thus  it  is  pro- 
tected, is  permanent  and  sound.  Many 
a  fine  piece  of  early  craftsmanship  has 
perished,  or  sadly  worn,  because  the 
tooling  lay  upon  the  surface.  But  a 
vice  lies  in  the  other  extreme;  the 
leather  may  be  too  deeply  scored  or 
even  burned  through  to  the  boards. 

All  these  are  faults  easy  to  be  marked. 
But  the  connoisseur  must  judge  further. 
He  must  discern  hand  tooling  from  the 
tread  of  the  stamping  press,  must  dis- 
tinguish the  glittering  track  of  the 
"roll"  from  the  laborious  composition 
built   up    of   minute    tools    in    patient 

96 


Gold  Tooling:  The  Technique 

repetition.  This  brings  one  to  consider 
the  tools  themselves. 

First  is  the  isolated  hand  tool,  the 
unit,  which  takes  artistic  value  through 
its  relation  with  its  fellow  tool.  These 
are  the  petits  fers ;  the  single  leaf,  the 
dot,  the  flower,  or  petal  of  a  flower,  each 
of  which  must  fall  again  and  again  in 
its  proper  place  to  result  in  a  design. 

Second,  there  is  the  composite  tool; 
the  complete  spray  of  leaves,  or  leaves  and 
flower,  or  arabesque,  struck  as  a  whole 
by  hand,  or,  if  large,  by  the  stamping 
press.  These  tools  resemble  in  charac- 
ter the  jleurons  with  which  the  eight- 
eenth century  printer  graced  his  pages. 
Many  of  them  are  charming  in  them- 
selves; but  in  tooling  they  are  a  ready 
made  art,  so  to  speak.  The  design  is 
not  that  of  the  finisher,  but  that  of  the 
engraver.  When  once  their  nature  is 
understood  they  can  always  be  distin- 
guished. 

And,  third,  of  the  same  nature  is  the 
roll.  The  roll  is  a  wheel  on  whose 
edge  is  engraved  a  complete  running 
design.  This  is  rolled  from  point  to 
point  by  the  finisher ;  and  there  results 

13  97 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

a  pattern  made  up  of  minute  elements, 
but  struck  as  a  whole,  not  piece  by 
piece.  Of  such,  usually,  are  the  "in- 
side borders"  of  the  cataloguer;  and 
of  such,  sometimes,  are  his  "outside 
borders"  as  well.  With  a  little  study 
they  can  always  be  detected.  Look  at 
the  corners  where  the  pattern  meets. 
It  seldom  mitres,  but  overlaps,  or  is 
clumsily  filled  in  by  a  corner  ornament. 
Fourth,  there  is  the  large  composite 
block,  struck  by  the  arming  press, 
named  because  the  block  so  struck  was 
usually  the  coat  armour  of  the  owner 
of  the  book.  This  must  ever  be  a  legi- 
timate embellishment.  Books  so  deco- 
rated include  many  of  the  choicest 
specimens  of  the  collector.  Arms 
royal,  arms  of  prelates  and  warriors, 
arms  of  fair  bibliophiles,  learned  or  un- 
learned, virtuous  or  too  fair,  were 
struck  thus  by  the  arming  press.  Such 
a  composition  is,  in  general,  too  large 
of  face  to  be  impressed  by  the  arm 
alone.  Still,  in  more  recent  practice, 
coats-of-arms  are  built  up,  piece  by  piece, 
where  the  design  is  not  too  intricate  and 
there  are  no  mantles  or  supporters. 

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Gold  Tooling:  The  Technique 

Works  of  the  finest  sort  must  always 
be  done  with  tools  of  the  first  class, 
the  petits  fers.  A  little  study  will 
enable  the  Bibliophile  to  know  them. 
Search  for  the  composite  tool  and  roll. 
If  these  be  absent,  one  may  be  sure 
that  the  design  was  wrought  bit  by  bit, 
was  a  work  of  patience,  skill  and  long 
labor ;  unless,  indeed,  the  whole  design 
was  machine  -  struck  from  a  solid  plate 
bearing  the  complete  design.  But  as 
to  this  the  connoisseur  can  never  be  de- 
ceived. The  machine  is  not  made 
which  in  vivacity,  variety,  brilliancy 
and  beauty  of  touch  can  approach  the 
hand  of  man.  Hand  tooling  has  a 
sparkle  of  its  own,  and  life  in  it 
which  cannot  be  mistaken.  The  tools, 
falling  each  in  its  turn,  fall  always  at  a 
slightly  varying  angle.  They  are  not, 
and  cannot  always  be  held  in  true  per- 
pendicular to  the  surface  of  the  leather. 
Thus  the  work  has  a  thousand  minute 
fascets,  each  with  its  own  angle  of  re- 
flection; and  as  the  book  moves  in 
one's  hand,  it  has  ever  a  new  aspect.  It 
retains  the  emotions  of  the  nerves 
that  wrought  it.     It  sparkles. 

99 


II 

GOLD  TOOLING:  THE  RENAISSANCE 
IN  ITALY 


II 

GOLD  TOOLING:  THE  RENAISSANCE 
IN  ITALY 

WHAT  man  loves  he  beautifies, 
—  the  instinct  is  inevitable,  as 
native  to  the  savage  as  to  the 
connoisseur.  There  is  little  surprising, 
therefore,  in  the  decoration  of  books. 
It  vrould  have  been  strange,  on  the 
contrary,  if  man,  glorifying  all  the 
products  of  his  hand  and  brain,  should 
have  left  the  corporeal  substance  which 
clothes  his  thoughts  without  grace  or 
beauty.  Some  there  have  been,  indeed, 
men  of  taste,  who  have  thought  it 
necessary  to  justify  their  instinct.  Such 
was  Pieresc,  who,  being  asked  why  he 
should  be  at  such  great  charge  in  book- 
binding, answered  that  "  inasmuch  as 
the  best  Books,  when  they  fell  into  un- 
learned men's  hands  ill  accoutred,  were 
pitifully  used;  he  therefore  endeavored 

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Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

that  they  might  be  prized  at  least  for 
the  beauty  of  their  binding,  and  so  es- 
cape the  danger  of  the  Tobacconist  and 
Grocer."  The  excuse  was  not  needed ; 
an  excuse  at  the  best.  Pieresc  was  fol- 
lowing a  gracious  instinct  common  to 
all  men.  Exterior  decoration  dates 
even  with  the  earliest  written  records. 
The  papyrus  scrolls  which  Horace  wrote 
reposed  in  cases  rich  with  ivory  and 
plates  of  gold.  So  it  was  and  so  it  con- 
tinued, until  St.  Jerome  laments  that 
books  should  be  clothed  in  jewels 
while  the  poor  go  naked. 

But  to  leave  the  age  of  manuscript 
when  gold,  carved  ivories  and  gems 
were  none  too  fine  a  dress  for  precious 
missals,  and  begin  with  bookbind- 
ing in  the  modern  sense,  at  the  per- 
iod when  leather,  the  fit  material  for 
clothing  books,  was  first  joined  to  the 
fittest  mode  of  decoration,  —  gold  tool- 
ing. Leather  and  gold  tooling:  the 
first  calls  for  the  latter.  The  fine  in- 
telligence of  the  Renaissance  made  the 
application,  founding  a  true  convention 
in  book  decoration  which  remains  to 
this  day. 

104 


Gold  Tooling:   The  Renaissance 

The  first  gold  tooling  was  done  in 
Venice.  Previously,  in  the  fourteenth 
and  early  fifteenth  centuries,  both  in 
Italy  and  England,  leather  had  been 
found  to  be  the  true  material  for  cover- 
ing; and  in  both  of  these  countries 
"  blind  "  tooling  had  been  used,  tooling 
w^ithout  gold,  executed  w^ith  w^ooden  or 
iron  instruments.  There  are  examples 
of  such  use  not  later  than  the  tenth 
century.  By  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  gold  tooling  was  intro- 
duced, and,  in  a  period  of  twenty-five 
years,  about  the  time  of  Aldus  Manu- 
tius,  became  common  throughout 
Italy  and  known  throughout  Europe. 
As  early  as  1542  we  read  in  a  bill  of 
Thomas  Berthelet,  binder  to  Henry 
VIII.  of  tf  Psalter  englisshe  and  latyne, 
bounde  back  to  back  in  white  leather  gorgi- 
ously  gilted  on  the  leather ;  and  this  the 
binder  calls  after  the  facion  of  Venice. 
In  Venice,  in  truth,  the  art  had  its 
birth ;  but  if  we  hark  back  further  we 
shall  find,  perhaps,  the  source  of  the  in- 
novation in  the  style  of  those  who 
practiced  it.  The  tools  of  these  early 
workmen   were   Arabic    in    character ; 

14  105 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

and  doubtless  the  art  came  from  the 
Levant,  with  which  the  Venetians  kept 
up  continuous  traffic. 

One  will  see  in  this  Italian  tooling 
inevitable  and  recurring  styles,  Sara- 
cenic and  Arabic  beyond  question. 
Look  over  any  collection  of  these  early 
bindings,  or  study  them  in  illustrated 
treatises:  you  will  see  ever  recur- 
ring the  same  design  of  running  circles 
interlaced,  the  same  rope  pattern  so 
characteristic  of  Saracenic  art,  and 
which  is  similar,  strangely  similar,  to 
the  interlaced  patterns  on  early  Celtic 
monuments. 

The  excellence  of  this  Italian  work 
does  not  have,  it  would  seem,  the  full 
attention  it  deserves.  To  be  sure  we 
hear  everywhere  of  Grolier,  and,  as  all 
know,  his  early  books  were  the  handi- 
work of  Italian  artists.  But  the  Italian 
work  to  which  I  refer  is  that  which 
preceded,  or  was  contemporaneous  with 
this  great  collector.  Grolier,  a  French- 
man, was  the  channel  through  which 
Italian  art  poured  into  France.  Of  him 
later;  but  it  may  here  be  said  that  his 
own    individuality    is  stamped    beyond 

106 


Gold  Tooling:   The  Renaissance 

mistake  on  all  the  work  done  for  this 
prince  of  connoisseurs.  Yet  note  that 
at  the  same  time  there  flourished  a 
style  more  native  and  Italianate.  A 
characteristic  example  will  be  seen  in 
the  Commentaries  of  Caesar,  printed  by 
Giunta  and  now  in  the  British  Muse- 
um. This  style  is  far  from  Grolier- 
esque,  and  is  characteristic  of  a  class 
widespread  in  Italy  at  that  day.  It  has 
beauty,  dignity,  and  a  charm  untiring, 
which  are  not  found  so  unalloyed  in 
the  more  gorgeous  and  flowing  tri- 
umphs of  the  great  French  craftsmen. 
The  Italian  of  the  Renaissance  accom- 
plished beauty  with  few  and  rigid  ele- 
ments. He  worked  simply,  his  tools 
are  obvious,  so  to  speak,  and  he  ob- 
tained this  dignified  and  surpassing 
grace  not  in  the  tools  themselves,  but  in 
the  placing  of  them.  The  theme  is 
simple  —  a  panel  merely  —  but  with  a 
fine  eye  for  true  proportion  and  the  just 
measure  between  decoration  and  unem- 
bellished  surface,  more  sensitive  to  mass 
than  detail,  he  achieved  triumphs  of 
proportion  which  have  never  been  sur- 
passed.     This   was  the  native    Italian 

107 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

genius,  proportion  —  architectonic  is 
the  word  some  critics  use  —  and  where 
this  quality,  call  it  what  you  will,  is 
found,  will  be  found  also  the  finest  sen- 
timent for  form  wedded  to  the  finest 
sense  of  fitness. 

There  are  two  limitations  under 
which  every  artist  works,  —  his  tools 
and  the  material;  and  in  gold  tooling 
far  more  than  in  other  graphic  arts  is  the 
tool  a  limitation.  The  tool  is  the  fibre 
of  the  design,  and,  though  a  seeming 
paradox,  the  more  elemental  the  tool, 
the  greater  the  artistic  freedom.  The 
study  of  style  becomes  inseparable  from 
a  study  of  the  tool,  —  the  piccoli  Jerri. 
The  first  tools,  Saracenic  in  character, 
foliage  conventionalized  beyond  recog- 
nition, were  made  with  solid  faces. 
The  result  was  heavy ;  broad  surfaces 
of  gold  without  the  contrasts  of  light 
and  shade  which  lighter  tools  make 
possible ;  though,  in  truth,  the  early 
Italian  craftsmen  obtained  this  gracious 
relief  by  fine  contrast  of  gold  and  tool- 
ing blind.  It  was  an  advance,  how- 
ever, when  tools  were  "azured, " — the 
face  made  of  horizontal  lines  as  azure 

108 


Gold  Tooling:   The  Renaissance 

is  marked  in  heraldry.  Then  followed 
tools  in  outline  merely ;  and  with  these 
three,  with  tools  solid,  azured  on  in  out- 
line, the  later  Italian  artists  accom- 
plished these  marvellous  books  of 
Maioli  and  Grolier. 

Thus  far  the  advance  was  wholly  on 
Italian  soil;  but  with  the  return  of 
Grolier  to  his  native  soil  the  seed  was 
sown  in  France,  which  thenceforward, 
to  our  own  day  perhaps,  became  the 
land  par  excellence  of  binding.  *^  La 
relieure  est  un  art  tout  Franc ais^'  says 
M.  Thoinan.  True,  perhaps,  but  let 
us  not  forget  that  in  the  art  of  binding 
as  in  other  arts,  the  first  vivifying  im- 
pulse and  firs^  cry  of  the  renascent  soul 
of  man  arose  in  Italy.  Remembering 
this  and  studying  these  earlier  Italian 
bindings  it  may  be  that  we  will  come 
to  realize  that  in  the  art  of  binding,  as 
in  many  arts,  the  first  fruits  were  the 
best. 


109 


Ill 

GOLD  TOOLING  IN  FRANCE 


m 

GOLD  TOOLING  IN  FRANCE 

IT  WOULD  seem  as  if  the  Muses 
had  also  applied  them- 
selves to  the  decoration  of  the 
outsides  of  the  books,  so  much  of  art 
and  esprit  appears  in  their  ornamenta- 
tion. They  are  all  tooled  with  a  deli- 
cacy unknown  to  the  gilders  of  to- 
day." So  wrote  Vigneul  de  Marville, 
speaking  of  Grolier's  books  in  1725. 
But  the  words  would  have  applied  with 
still  greater  force  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury, when  Grolier  brought  his  superb 
collection  from  Italy  into  France. 
These  books  were  a  revelation  to  the 
Treasurer-General's  compatriots ;  and 
the  French  binders  of  that  day,  gath- 
ering thereby  new  inspiration,  began 
that   surpassing  national  school  which 

15  113 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

was  to  make  bookbinding  a  truly 
Gallic  art. 

Without  doubt  the  integrity  and 
tradition  of  the  art  in  France  owe 
largely  to  the  guild  of  St.  Jean  Latran, 
dating  from  the  middle  ages.  The 
guild  included  all  the  fabricators  of 
books — printers,  binders,  stationers — 
though  it  is  interesting  to  note  that 
upon  the  introduction  of  gold  tooling 
a  quarrel  arose  between  the  guild  and 
certain  workmen,  who  had  not  the 
freedom  of  the  guild,  but  who  practiced 
tooling,  though  their  proper  metier  was 
gilding  boots  and  shoes.  It  is  prob- 
able that  the  earliest  French  gilders 
united  the  trades  of  boot  and  book  em- 
bellishment. This  has  been  doubted 
by  some  authorities;  but  I  may  call  at- 
tention to  the  trademark  of  Guyot 
Marchant,  printer  and  bookbinder,  who 
flourished  in  the  fifteenth  century,  in 
which  is  depicted  the  leather  worker 
cobbling  with  a  strap  across  his  knee 
after  the  fashion  of  all  good  cobblers. 

But  as  to  French  binding  there  are 
questions  more  important.  Who  were 
the   craftsmen  who  tooled  these  early 

114 


Gold  Tooling  in  France 

books?  To  the  artist  truly  should  be- 
long the  fame;  yet,  unfortunately,  the 
names  of  those  who  conceived  these 
flowing  arabesques  are  generally  un- 
known; and  the  books  are  named  from 
the  collectors  who  placed  them  on  their 
shelves. 

But  one  name  stands  out  with  cer- 
tainty: that  of  Geofroy  Tory,  an  artist 
versatile.  It  is  known  that  he  designed 
letters  for  Grolier,  his  contemporary. 
But  it  is  doubtful  if  any  of  his  bind- 
ings were  done  for  this  collector.  His 
style  is  Italianate,  clearly  to  be  seen  in 
a  volume  of  Petrarch  bound  by  him, 
now  in  the  British  Museum.  Here  is 
the  panel  theme,  enclosed  in  an  outer 
border  of  interlacing  Saracenic  circles. 
The  source  of  both  is  evident;  and  we 
mark  here  the  infiltration  of  the  Italian 
Renaissance  into  Southern  France, 
where  Tory  lived  and  wrought.  On 
his  work  is  seen  the  pot  casse,  the 
broken  vase,  his  trade  mark  and  sign 
manual.      His  work  can  be  identified. 

Not  so,  however,  the  work  of  many 
craftsmen  still  more  skillful,  who,  under 
the  influence  of  Grolier,  wrought  those 

115 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

books  of  Henry  II.  and  Catharine  his 
Queen,  wrought  also  for  the  fair  Diane, 
whom  Henry  styled  faithlessly  his 
**  seule  prinsese^  The  names  of  these 
masters  are  unknown,  or,  at  the  best, 
rest  in  conjecture.  In  their  styles  will 
be  found  impulses  truly  Grolieresque; 
styles  I  say  advisedly,  for  here  in 
France,  as  in  Italy,  coexisted  tooling  of 
different  genres^  and  with  that  which 
was  Italian  much  that  was  wholly 
French.  Such  was  the  semis,  or 
powder,  wherein  the  covers  were  strewn 
with  petits  fers  regularly  repeated. 
This  manner  is  feeble,  but  national  and 
ancient,  dating  from  the  middle  ages. 
It  occurs  on  many  royal  bindings,  and 
was  a  favorite  with  Nicholas  Eve,  one 
of  the  first  of  that  family  of  binders. 
For  one  must  always  bear  in  mind  that, 
among  French  craftsmen,  the  trade  de- 
scended from  father  to  son;  and  well- 
known  names  such  as  Eve,  Padeloup, 
Derome,  often  stand  for  several  genera- 
tions. Styles,  as  well  as  name  and  skill, 
become  hereditary,  and  it  is  often  im- 
possible to  assign  to  the  particular  ar- 
tist a   particular    example   of   the    art. 

116 


Gold  Tooling  in  France 

And  let  us  remember  that  individual 
craftsmen  worked  in  several  styles. 
Thus  the  Eves  used  not  only  the  semis, 
but  also  another  manner  peculiarly 
French,  in  which  the  field  is  divided 
into  numerous  compartments,  each 
linked  to  the  other  by  bands  of  twisted 
fillets.  These  compartments  are  vari- 
ously filled,  some  with  spiral  arabesques, 
some  with  isolated  petits  fers,  and  still 
others  with  little  laurel  branches,  — 
bindings  "a  la  fanfare,"  as  later  they 
were  dubbed  by  Nodier. 

If  one  might  be  so  bold  as  to  char- 
acterize one  style  out  of  many,  as 
most  typical  of  Gallic  art,  it  would  be 
this,  the  binding  a  la  fanfare  with 
its  twisting,  curvilinear  strap-work.  It 
is,  so  to  speak,  the  rectangular  strap- 
work  of  Grolier,  passed  through  and 
transmuted  by  French  genius  into 
something  new  and  different.  Here  the 
nobility  of  Italian  form  becomes  in 
French  hands  over-refined,  somewhat 
prettified  into  the  national  ideal. 

We  see  this  strap-work  later  on,  re- 
vived, forming  the  fundamental  struc- 
ture   for   the   style  of   the    greatest  of 

117 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

French  artists,  —  Le  Gascon,  the  mys- 
terious, the  almost  mythical  master 
craftsman.  His  existence  even  is  de- 
nied; but  on  conclusive  evidence  he 
lived  and  tooled  covers  generally  ac- 
knowledged to  be  triumphs  of  the  art. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Ital- 
ians gradually  lightened  the  faces  of 
their  tools,  using  first  the  solid  face, 
then  tools  azured,  then  tools  merely 
outlined.  In  Le  Gascon  this  evolution 
reached  a  final  stage  in  France,  and  his 
petits  fers  were  but  a  string  of  minute 
dots,  —  tools  au  pointille.  With  these 
he  filled  the  compartments  which 
the  Eves  designed  before  him.  The 
effect  was  incomparably  brilliant ;  daz- 
zling, lace-like  spirals  were  set  against 
each  other  in  fine  profusion.  Mr. 
Home  points  out  that  the  spirals  of 
Le  Gascon  lack  in  structural  relation — 
do  not,  indeed,  spring  one  from  the 
other  with  the  finest  sentiment  of  form. 
But  beyond  doubt  Le  Gascon  stands 
artist  par  excellence  in  the  history  of 
binding,  and  he  is  so  ranked  by  Mr. 
Cobden-Sanderson,  than  whom  there  is 
probably    no    judge    more    competent. 

118 


Gold  Tooling  in  France 

In  Le  Gascon  we  have  the  climax 
of  French  tooling ;  thenceforward  be- 
gins the  history  of  an  art  in  its  decline. 

Le  Gascon  was  working  in  1622, 
while  in  1684  Luc  Antoine  Boyet  was 
living  at  Paris  in  Rue  des  Sept  Voies. 
To  him  is  credited  the  style  called 
Jansenist,  still  in  high  favor  with  the 
amateur.  The  Jansenist  binding  has 
no  gilding  or  other  ornament  on  the 
exterior,  save  only  a  blind  fillet  edging 
the  covers.  Named  from  the  Jansen- 
ists  of  Port  Royal,  the  style  embodies 
their  ascetic  and  severe  ideal.  But  even 
here  the  gilding  denied  to  the  outside 
was  lavished  on  the  doublurey  or  inner 
lining  of  the  cover.  This  lining,  made 
of  leather,  was  elaborately  tooled  with 
a  deep  dentelky  or  lace-like,  indented 
border.  At  this  point  the  craft  has 
reached  a  higher  technical  accomplish- 
ment. Here,  as  in  other  arts,  a  de- 
cline in  genius  is  offset  by  a  gain  in 
craftsmanship.  Padeloup  was  binding 
at  this  period  and  is  famous  for  mosaics 
of  gorgeous  inlaid  leathers,  feeble  in 
invention  but  gorgeous  none  the  less. 
Here  was  another  technical  advantage, 

119 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

for  the  polychromatic  effects  of  Grolier 
and  the  early  Renaissance  were  mostly 
done  with  pigments,  not  in  true  inlay. 

The  dentelles  which  Boyet  lavished  on 
the  doublure  were  transferred  by  the 
Deromes  and  Padeloups  to  the  outer 
cover.  The  style,  imitating  the  lace 
work  of  the  period,  is  rococo  and  de- 
based, a  true  reflection  of  the  day,  an 
art  weak  in  structure,  seeking  the  gor- 
geous chiefly,  a  child  of  the  age,  vain- 
glorious, soon  to  be  extinguished  in 
the  blast  of  revolution. 

How  inevitably  art  reflects  the  spirit 
of  its  day  and  incarnates  the  contempo- 
rary ideal !  So  it  is  even  with  this  minor 
art  of  binding.  At  every  stage  it  takes 
its  keynote  from  the  passing  fashion. 

To  study  the  progress  of  the  art  in 
France  is,  in  a  little  but  not  uninterest- 
ing way,  to  study  the  history  of  France, 
to  observe  its  follies,  the  pomp  of  King 
and  courtier,  and  to  have  part  in  the 
luxury  of  Queen  and  favorite.  We 
catch  in  these  gilded  arabesques  the 
glint  and  true  lineaments  of  many  old 
ideals.  It  is  profitable,  this  study,  as 
well  as  entertaining. 

120 


Gold  Tooling  in  France 

One  knows  the  style  of  Michael 
Angelo  or  Titian  with  reasonable  pre- 
cision. It  is  no  harder,  with  a  little 
study,  to  know  the  styles  of  masters  in 
this  minor  art ;  whence  comes  added 
pleasures  as  one  wanders  through  the 
museums  of  Europe,  or  handles,  per- 
chance, for  a  brief  moment,  the  rare 
treasures  of  one's  friend,  the  famous 
bibliophile. 


16  121 


IV 
THE  GOLD  TOOLING  OF  TO-DAY 


IV 
THE  GOLD  TOOLING  OF  TO-DAY 

MR.  HORNE,  in  his  admirable 
essay  on  book-binding,  tells  of 
a  celebrated  Parisian  binder 
who  used  to  show  an  original  Grolier 
beside  a  copy  made  by  himself,  in 
which  he  had  corrected  all  the  curves 
of  the  original  and  executed  the  joints 
and  mitres  with  absolute  precision.  As 
an  example  of  technical  skill  the  copy 
was  a  remarkable  production;  as  a 
work  of  art,  it  was  dull  and  lifeless, 
wanting  "  that  vitality  which  comes  of 
the  error  of  the  hand  in  spontaneous 
expression."  Why  should  not  the  de- 
sign of  the  old  master,  copied  by  a  mod- 
ern workman  with  far  greater  technical 
skill,  be  better  than  the  original  ? 
Here  lies  one  of  the  mysteries  of 
art,  and  also  one  of  its  essential  truths : 

125 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

Fine  art  must  ever  be  the  spontaneous 
expression  of  brain  and  hand,  following 
freely  an  original  impulse  which  has 
mastered  them. 

All  recent  critics  of  the  craft  of 
binding  agree  that  the  modern  work- 
man, while  excelling  in  all  particulars 
of  technique,  misses  too  often  that  ac- 
complished beauty  which  alone  can 
justify  his  skill :  and  gold  tooling  is 
counted  among  arts  decadent.  This 
was  true  not  many  years  ago.  Is  it 
true  to-day  ?  I  think  not.  This  art,  as 
many  others,  is  to-day  renascent.  And 
here  it  is  endeavored  to  point  out,  or 
at  least  to  suggest,  the  probable  path 
of  the  new  life  before  us. 

This  will  best  be  done  by  analyzing 
artistic  failures  in  contemporary  work; 
and  for  this  purpose  there  is  nothing 
more  instructive  than  to  turn  the  pages 
of  La  Relieure  Modeme^  Artistique  et 
Fantaisiste^  by  M.  Octave  Uzanne. 
Here  are  seen,  finely  illustrated,  over 
seventy  examples  of  what  M.  Uzanne 
deems  the  triumphs  of  contemporary 
French  craftsmen.  One  fact  stands 
prominent:    almost  without  exception 

126 


The  Gold  Tooling  of  To-day 

the  examples  which  are  not  a  shock  to 
the  beholder  are  those  which  are  in 
confessed  imitation  of  historic  patterns. 
When  the  modern  Gallic  craftsman 
breaks  with  tradition,  and  embarks  on 
the  sea  of  his  own  fantasy,  the  result 
too  often  is  distressing.  One  sees  little 
birds  billing  about  a  nest,  one  sees  small 
dancing  figures,  parasols  or  fans  of 
gorgeous  inlaid  leather,  one  sees  butter- 
flies and  sprays  of  flowers,  naturalistic, 
tooled  "so  that  it  shall  appear  as  if 
they  had  been  thrown  down  carelessly." 
In  these  naturalistic  efforts  the  crafts- 
man is,  in  the  words  of  Mr.  Cobden- 
Sanderson,  "developing  his  own  disso- 
lution and  the  dissolution  of  his  craft." 
Here  does  not  one  develop  a  canon 
of  the  art  in  question  ?  This  ;  Imita- 
tion of  nature  is  not  design;  and  de- 
sign, not  representation,  is  the  true 
means  of  decoration.  To  illustrate  this 
fact :  Suppose  one  had  a  Turner  enlisted 
in  the  craft,  and  he  with  some  thou- 
sand petits  fers  should  draw  in  gold  on 
a  book  cover  an  exact  replica  of  his 
most  famous  landscape.  Would  one 
have  hjere  a  work  of  art  ?     By  no  means, 

127 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

rather  something  unfit,  something  im- 
possibly unfit,  a  hopeless  and  futile 
struggle,  where  the  false  tool  sought  to 
grave  upon  the  false  material  a  false 
ideal.  And  this  would  be  so  even  if 
one  conceived  a  technical  success.  But 
how  impossible  is  technical  success  will 
be  seen  in  the  attempted  "  drawing  "  of 
the  most  skillful  artisans  of  France,  also 
without  question  the  most  skillful  in 
the  world. 

But  let  it  not  be  thought  because  in 
the  examples  cited  success  is  found  only 
in  imitation  of  the  past,  that  therefore 
in  such  imitation  lies  the  highroad  to 
success.  To  reproduce  Grolier  or  Le 
Gascon  is  to-day  nearly  as  sterile  a  per- 
formance as  to  stamp  with  a  rigid  tool 
a  naturalistic  spray  of  flowers.  I  say 
nearly  as  bad,  because  such  imitation, 
however  little  it  shows  spontaneous  con- 
ception, does  at  least  seek  the  proper 
embellishment  on  the  proper  material 
with  the  proper  tool. 

But  enough  of  modern  failure :  the 
moral  is  pointed. 

Mr.  Cobden-Sanderson,  at  one  time 
a  barrister   and  now  one   of  the   most 

128 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

original  of  English  binders,  represents 
the  new  life  I  mean.  He  stands  an 
important  figure,  not  merely  because  he 
has  wrought  bindings  already  valued 
at  their  weight  in  gold,  but  even  more 
because  he  has  written  of  his  craft  lumi- 
nous and  enthusiastic  words  which  are 
the  inspiration  and  the  creed  of  a  num- 
ber of  isolated  and  collected  English 
binders.  Indeed  it  seems  now  as  if 
book-binding  were  no  longer  un  art 
tout  Franqais,  but  rather  Anglo-Saxon. 

Mr.  Sanderson's  main  article  of  faith 
is  that  true  art  is  contemporaneous. 
Great  as  are  the  old  schools  of  Grolier, 
Eve,  Le  Gascon,  they  are  closed  for- 
ever. "The  future  is  not  with  them 
or  their  development  or  repetition." 
The  reason  is  simple,  expressed  in  a 
syllogism:  True  art  is  self-expression; 
in  book  decoration  such  expression  is 
through  design;  and  (pithy  saying!) 
"The  designer  in  designing  must — de- 
sign'' 

Here  one  is  at  the  root  of  modern 
failure.  The  average  craftsman  does 
not  design,  he  copies  ;  he  remains  arti- 
san and  does  not  aspire  to  be  artist. 

17  129 


The  Gold  Tooling  of  To-day 

What  then  is  necessary  to  the  future 
of  the  craft  ?  This :  first  the  impulse 
and  then  the  power  to  design ;  to  de- 
sign, having  ever  a  keen  sensibility  for 
the  nature  of  the  material  and  to  the 
possibilities  which  lie  within  the  tool. 
To  genius  these  are  instinctive.  They 
were  instinctive  in  the  artists  who 
wrought  for  Grolier,  they  were  instinc- 
tive in  the  Eves  and  in  Le  Gascon,  and 
thereby  resulted  native  and  surpassing 
styles,  full  of  proportion,  grace  and  bal- 
ance. 

Is  one  to  conclude  therefore  that  for 
the  finest  tooling  one  must  have  genius 
ready  made?  Yes  and  no.  For  the 
unique  examples,  genius;  but  for  com- 
petent and  excellent  gold-tooling, 
wrought  in  a  style  that  shall  at  once 
have  beauty  and  reserve,  there  is  needed 
chiefly  study  and  instruction  in  the 
craftsman  —  study  of  what  has  been, 
and  instruction  in  what  should  and  shall 
be. 

Already  in  England  are  springing  up 
schools  where  the  art  is  taught  to  work- 
men and  apprentices.  Such,  for  in- 
stance, is  the  Central  School  of  Arts  and 

130 


The  Gold  Tooling  of  To-day 

Crafts  in  London,  where  Mr.  Douglas 
Cockerell,  an  accomplished  artist, 
teaches  the  English  apprentice  the  ideal 
and  method  of  his  craft.  Why  not? 
The  painter,  the  sculptor,  the  architect, 
do  not  spring  full-born  and  competent 
masters  without  study  or  instruction. 
Mr.  Cockerell  was  bred  in  the  school 
of  William  Morris,  and  did  much  work 
for  him  in  repairing  and  re-binding  the 
chief  treasures  of  his  library.  It  was 
thus,  or  more  probably  through  some 
native  instinct,  that  he  found  that  style 
at  once  racial  and  original  which  char- 
acterizes the  books  from  his  bindery. 
There  is  no  artist  working  to-day 
whose  work  is  so  Anglo-Saxon  in  spirit, 
so  rich  and  so  reserved  —  so  truly  beau- 
tiful with  the  beauty  which  is  proper 
to  the  book. 

Indeed,  the  sterile  period  of  the  craft 
is  past  in  England;  and  the  leaven  has 
spread  to  this  country.  Here  and  there 
binderies  are  springing  up  where  beau- 
tiful and  gracious  work  is  done.  And, 
at  the  same  time,  the  public  itself  is 
awakening  to  the  existence  of  a  charm- 
ing and  historic  craft  in  its  midst;   to 

131 


Bookbinding  for  Bibliophiles 

the  fact  that  it  is  as  barbarous  to  dress 
one's  best  loved  books  in  shoddy,  as  to 
cumber  one's  walls  with  crude  or  puer- 
ile pictures. 


THE     END 


132 

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